Page 519 - Demo

Pandemic513lifetimes). And we both regularly wonder what will happen after we%u2019ve fully learned those lessons. Will we be presented with other lessons in this life, or in future lives? Or, will we graduate to another level of existence? We just don%u2019t know. However, because we%u2019ve always enjoyed learning, we%u2019re confident that something will be there for us, in this lifetime, as well as beyond, and it will involve acquiring knowledge in order to grow, and more confidently become ourselves.%u2022%u2022%u2022%u2022%u2022In the fall of 2022, as the Covid pandemic neared its third anniversary, Lynn and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary on November 24. Actually, for us, August 7 was a more memorable day, because it was the anniversary of the day we met for the first time. The wedding itself was more of a formality. In the past, we%u2019d gone out to dinner on such occasions, but during the pandemic we celebrated those two special days with a carry-out meal of boneless duck from our favorite Chinese restaurant.Even though the two of us have never exchanged gifts at Christmas, and never put up a holiday tree, we had always mailed out Christmas cards to friends and relatives as a way to keep in touch. For much of that time, we included a page-long letter summing up our year. In our 2022 letter, we wrote a brief recounting of Lynn%u2019s fall into our pond and her near death experience, as well as noting our 50th wedding anniversary. To our surprise, only one person commented on Lynn%u2019s near demise. And concerning our 50th, only one of my sisters mentioned it by saying that she%u2019d forgotten all about it. While these were major life events for us, they were unimportant to others. There wasn%u2019t even a brief comment from either of the two women Lynn had been pen pals with for decades. We finally decided it was simply important for us to honor our own lives. During the last months of 2022, I realized I hadn%u2019t taken a black-and-white photograph in more than four years. While I almost never get rid of a tool %u2014 believing it might be needed someday, even years in the future %u2014 I was concerned about my camera just