It’s My Fault
June 14th came and went this year, four years since I was diagnosed with cancer. Four years. They have been exceptional, and I use that word like Dr. Anderson did when he saw my first PET scan, “…exceptional. No, not in a good way.”
Well, obviously there was my whole cancer thing, then various friends had their cancer thing. I lost one of those friends while I was still in treatment. A year later and 2 more friends were gone. I was still clear, but not the same.
Then 2020 came along and, well, we all know how that went, not only did we lose loved ones, our worlds were turned upside down. COVID, were we lived through a shut down, and every day brought a new phase of “normal”, phases that continue through today. Black Lives Matters protests sparked by the police-involved killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. I lost another friend to cancer, my buddy that I had literally started my treatment with, and yes, another friend was lost by the end of the year. Murder hornets. Chadwick Boseman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Alex Trebek joined my friends that I had lost to cancer. My feet hurt all the time.
2021 was next. We started that year with the capital insurrectionists. Our withdrawal from Afghanistan saw the death of 13 US troops. The back wall of the library had major water damage, and the brick, that had not been sealed, caused an ugly water leak in the children’s department. COVID continued to mutate and kill. Three years out, still clear, feet still hurt.
And here we are, 2022. Russia has invaded Ukraine. The back wall is still not done. There was the Buffalo supermarket shooting, the Robb Elementary shooting and a bundle of others. Yep, my feet still hurt and now I have GERD and some apparent food intolerance.
Four years. But you know what happened 6 years and one day ago? I broke a mirror. On June 15, 2016 I posted a photo of a broken mirror with the comment, “Here’s to the next 7 years.” Don’t worry I won’t take you back to 2016 or 2017, but rest assured I would find ugly moments from those years too. And yes, obviously this has all been my fault.
I am in no way making light of the tragedies we have experienced, but sometimes we have to find a way to smile. Yes, the last 4 years or maybe 6 have had some bad moments, but there is always good. 2018 I was sick, but I was also healed. 2019 I lost some friends but I rejoice with the ones who continue their fight. 2020 we had COVID, but we also had a vaccination developed by the end of the year. 2021 vaccinations rolled out to everyone, and Ever Green was freed from the Suez Canal. 2022 and we had 111 kids on our 1st week of SRP, 89 on the 2nd, and, drumroll, please, 112 on our 3rd. I am aware there were way more good things to list and bad for that matter, but you get my point.
One year to go, mark your calendars, June 15, 2023 and we should be set.
Upcoming Events: 6/22 Summer Reading Program at 10am. We have SRP adult book bags available for checkout and the Little House Reading Challenge ends on June 30th.