Day 72: Why am I crying?

Despite it being a lovely sunny day, I found myself inside watching the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh. As the procession began, the tears began to roll down my cheeks. That caught me by surprise. I mean, I'm a proud Irish woman, and apart from an interest in royal fashion, I can't say that I have been over invested in the lives of the British Royal family.

So why the tears?

 I think it's a direct result of Covid.

Mam died last October. It was a very intimate and moving funeral, but there were none of the rituals and traditions that are part and parcel of an Irish farewell. So I was a bit concerned in recent times that we hadn't really gotten closure. And that was proven today.

So there I was in floods of tears, watching the funeral of a man I had never met or had any dealings with.  In normal times I would have attended at least one funeral, a couple of wakes and a rake of removals in the intervening six months since Man's death and I would have had many opportunities to deal with my grief and the memories that these events would have dredged up. But because of Covid restrictions, today's was the first funeral I have "attended" since Mam's, so of course it was going to open the floodgates. As they say, the first of everything is the hardest.

So is this going to be a legacy of Covid, when we do eventually get back to real life? Is there going to be a deluge of unresolved issues and emotional baggage that we haven't had a chance to deal with?

I guess so. At least today I got my "first funeral" out of the way, in the comfort of my home.

Go ndeana Dia grasta ar a anam dílis. 

Happy Birthday Lil Kovid

 They grow up so fast!

I can't believe that it's been a year since this little fella came into my life!

It was back in the first Lockdown of 2020. My weekly day out was to my local Aldi to stock up on essentials for the coming week. As you do in Aldi, I was perusing the middle aisle (one of the highlights of my week) when I espied a crochet kit. Now I hadn't crocheted since my childhood when I had the best dressed Sindy and Barbie dolls in the parish. So I took the kit home, as I had loads of time available to undertake such a challenging project! And so it was that Lil' Kovid came into being.

Now, I'll be honest, I thought that within a matter of two months, Lil Kovid would become a memento of an historical "unprecedented" event. However, something is only assigned to history when a change occurs. And unfortunately, one year later there has been no major change in restrictions and my weekly trip to Aldi is still me going "out out".

Lil Kovid has not been assigned to the attic where, on the occasion of my demise, my grandnieces and grandnephews will open a case and find Lil Kovid there, and wonder what life must have been like for Grandaunt Noeleen during the pandemic of 2021.

No, Lil Kovid is still very much a part of everyday life. Some days he is the only "person" that I can vent and complain to. So I think a red velvet cupcake is the least that I could get him.

Disclaimer: the fact that Red Velvet is  MY absolute favourite, is a complete coincidence.

These restrictions better finish soon before I lose it COMPLETELY :)