Today’s newsfeed story: “It’s just another pandemic Monday”  Thank you Heather Mallick, Monday January 17, 2022.  I guess we are all feeling ‘something’.

Yesterday was my father’s birthday.  He would have turned 93 if he hadn’t died when he was 69.  I find it interesting how we like to do that- – provide an age or number as if the person was still with us.  I guess they are- if we are still thinking about them- then they are still with us- metaphorically speaking of course.

I had an emotional day yesterday; I cried watching tender dog videos and I cried watching a young girl get the ‘golden buzzer’ on America’s Got Talent reruns.  The emotion I was feeling was sadness with an underpinning of gratitude.  I was missing my father who had been gone for a very long time and my mother, whose death was much more recent and still fresh. The gratitude was imbedded as I was reflecting on their lives and on the daily joy I have from my own family and my work and also how much  I miss them both. But some days are harder than others.

Today is a new day and all of us need different supports for different things.   As our calls increase and more and more families are reaching out for support, I know that supporting everyone’s good mental health is paramount.  Caregiver, care recipient, counsellor, parent, adult child, teenager- we all need support.  A few resources to consider.

Have a good Monday.