More About Christmas in Lockdown

On 28 December 2020, and again a few days ago on 29 January 2021, Trevor Thorn posted about experiences of Christmas during lockdown.  He set all we More Than Writers contributors a challenge, to record this strange Christmas for future generations and to identify the ways in which it was unique. 

My husband and I spent Christmas by ourselves.  We would’ve much preferred to have spent it with family, and had made plans to meet with our daughter and family on Boxing Day, but then Boris made his announcement and we were resigned to being just two.  After a mad rush to send presents by Hermes, suddenly Christmas was less work and less frenetic.  Husband and I watched Midnight Mass and Christmas Day services online.  We WhatsApped son and Zoomed daughter.  We walked around our village in the cold damp air and looked in wonder at the flooded river. Present-opening took just a few minutes.  We were fine, just fine. Then I received a text from my friend, all alone. 

In his January post Trevor shared with us several Limericks.  As a short story writer and hopeful novelist, and definitely not a poet, I am setting down here a poem of my own, reflecting Limerick metre very loosely..  Warning – not funny!

On Christmas Day, we were but two.
More relaxed, less work, I wasn’t blue.
Text from friend.  She is but one,
Frail and shielding, her life’s no fun.
‘Please, please,’ she prayed, ‘just get this day through’.

I offered to FaceTime my friend instantly, but she asked me not to because she was tired. She does have family, sons and grandchildren, but, seeing as she was so unwell and they were in contact with other people in the course of their jobs, they didn’t dare meet her in person.  They had Zoomed and Facetimed and exhausted her.  There is more to loneliness than the obvious.  Since then I have FaceTimed her every week. 

Moving on… a big thank you for all the ACW members who entered our competition, to design a Worth Our Weight in Gold logo for use with our ACW fiftieth anniversary celebrations.  Our designer judge has now shortlisted three and it’s now up to paid-up ACW members to vote for their preferred design.  An eNews containing a poll will be winging its way to you shortly.

I actually gave up the ACW Competitions Manager role in the summer and Bobbie Ann Cole is now well and truly settled into the role, but please allow me a few last words on the subject of entering comps:

• Meet the deadline
• Stick to the word count
• Send your entry in the format requested (ie in an email, as an attachment, .docx).
• Follow all other entry requirements to the letter.

 

Don’t ask the competition administrators to make exceptions for you.  They won’t.  Well, I did.  If entrants entered something not quite meeting the requirements I asked them to re-submit – but they’re not all like that.