It’s been a hard Covid year for all of us. The slowdown of the economy has seen incomes cut severely and job security become a real concern. Which is why we decided, after carefully weighing the risks, to bring the family together for Christmas. A mask-refusing student of my wife was recently hospitalized with Covid, and only after we had established that she had not been in contact for more than two weeks could we plan our family get-together.

The grandchildren seem to be oblivious to the threats, and learnt anew how to get on with each other. The boys worked together making lavender sachets for all the girls in the family. Grandson Diederick had instructed me to collect pine cones in our park, and asked his cousins to help paint and decorate them, because, he said, ‘sharing is important.’

Times are not easy, and parent who are not sure when and if clients will pay, or whether the price of their farm produce will cover costs still expressed hope for the future in the gifts they gave.

While news reports of mass street parties, of hospitals running out of beds and oxygen, and of a new and virulent strain of the virus come in we celebrated our togetherness, our mutual support and love.

The coming year will be hard. The economy is under severe strain and is unlikely to recover anytime soon. But we have each other.