The Year of 2020

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Each year, like many, I take time to reflect on this past year and re-set my intentions for the upcoming year. As we all have said at one point, 2020 has been nothing like we have ever experienced. Not only has the pandemic impacted all of our lives in some way, we all have our daily life experiences (good and bad) to add on to this.

a day trip to Ellicottville in February. This photo was taken outside of West Rose. Highly recommend you visiting.

a day trip to Ellicottville in February. This photo was taken outside of West Rose. Highly recommend you visiting.

For me, this year started off with a kick in the gut when we learned that my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in January. As my family and I wrapped our heads around this, we entered this pandemic world in the U.S. in March, and since then there have been highs and lows.

At the end of March I started a new job with Shea’s Performing Arts Center, while it’s definitely been a crazy, yet fun onboarding experience and first year, I am so thankful to be a part of the Shea’s family. In April, we lost my grandmother which I still don’t think I’ve fully come to grasp with. Then in June, I was furloughed, but I looked at that time, as time to spend with my family, to learn what is really important in my life and what isn’t worth holding onto. In July, we celebrated my Mom finishing her chemo treatment and moving in the right direction. In August, I was lucky to go back to work.

As we entered the Fall I continued that theme of family and spending as much time with them and exploring the outdoors by going on as many hikes in WNY and the surrounding areas as I could. In November my brother and I moved into a new home. And during all of the family and daily life stuff, even in a socially distant world, I was able to support local businesses, volunteer more of my time, meet some cool WNYer’s, seek out new places, build my relationships with others and re-visit places I haven’t been to in a while.

There were many special moments throughout this year but here are some of the ones that stood out the most for me. Visiting Shuck Shack on Ohio Street, Spring Lake Winery, Stony Brook State Park, touring Seneca One Buffalo, meeting and working with Kristen from Meet + Eat Charcuterie, visiting the beautiful Hartrich Chateau in Corfu and taking a mini day trip to Presque Isle State Park in PA.

Did I put my blogging life off during this past year? Maybe a little, and while I look at other local influencers there are times when it’s hard for me not to think what am I doing wrong? am I relevant? do people even care or read what I share? But I continue to tell myself to follow my own journey and share my experiences I chose to share because it’s a hobby for me and I want my site to be used as a resource to inform others in the community and beyond about the cool places and people WNY have to offer.

A few weeks ago during a meeting someone asked what is one word I would use to describe this past year, my word was Hope. I chose Hope because even during all of the uncertain, bad, difficult, sad, stressful and anxious times I still have hope that things will be better. Maybe that hope comes from the faith I have that everything will always work out even if it’s not to your timing, maybe I’m naïve, I’m not sure, but that is something that has gotten me thru some of the lows.

As I close out this last blog post for the year, and as we approach 2021 I’m looking forward to continuing to shift my energy to what really matters to me and what truly makes me happy. It’s a constant journey to continue to better yourself.

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We are all on this planet for a reason, we each have a purpose. I’d like to think this past year was an opportunity for us to all have a good re-set in our lives. It gave us time to evaluate what fills us with love and happiness and to let go and rid ourselves of what is holding us down and what doesn’t matter.

As always thanks for being a part of this journey with me.

Cheers to a healthy + happy 2021

-B

A Sign Of Hope & Good Things To Come

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The reason I’m sharing this story is because as a country I feel like we are failing miserably and not learning from those mistakes.. Each day there is more bad than good that is shown on the news, internet, etc… And we are all facing very hard times right now and during these times we should lean on whatever faith we have to keep going each day. Imagine if we all tried to lead our lives with a little more kindness and love how much better we may feel right now. Eventually good things will come.

At the beginning of 2020 before the pandemic hit the U.S. my Mom and our family were hit with the news that my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. While I’ve been going back and forth trying to decide if it’s right or wrong to share this story, I’m following my gut.

I can only offer my viewpoint because I have never been diagnosed with cancer, however both my parents have been and I can solely speak on the experience I have had from a child/loved ones point of view. I can’t imagine being told you have cancer, and yet there are many in this world who hear those words and go through the difficulties of dealing with the disease each and every day, throw a global pandemic into the mix and that does not help those who are already going through a pretty significant life obstacle.

As a child it’s hard to see your parents go through difficulties in life. I mean we grow up looking up to our parents and all that they do to protect us and make us feel better when we are sick or going through a difficult time. When my Dad was diagnosed with cancer I was in high school and I only remember certain things here and there. Today, as an adult and seeing what my Mom has gone through has been hard. Seeing her try to stay tough and do her everyday activities, work and just live the life she has been given was what seemed to be daunting at times because of the harsh chemicals that have been put in her body to combat the disease. And all we wanted to do as a family was help and make her feel better and sometimes we couldn’t. At times we would all feel helpless in a sense because all we could really do is listen and let her know we were there for her.

BUT with the bad comes the good. During the last 7 months we as a family have seen and gone through are ups and downs but what I would like to say has gotten us through it all is our love and faith. As cliche as it is all you can do is take it one day at a time because there is constant change that you go through. Each one of us in the family went through it. To help distract from the negative we focused on the positive. We created a chemo countdown chain and on each link there was something different. A different question each day, like what was my Mom’s favorite song, or favorite subject in school. Other links had drawings on them or simple messages like we love you. Now I’m going to take those answers to the questions and put it in a family book that we can all have.

To celebrate her last chemo treatment that was yesterday, we released butterflies (they are her favorite). It was a fun experience and to us, a sign of hope and good things to come. As she was going to her last appointment a butterfly flew by her, and even after we released the butterflies there were images of butterflies showing up on the television. Some may not buy it, but I’m a believer in being given signs that good things are on your way. While my Mom still has to go through radiation next month I think as a family we can say we are happy that this chapter is behind us all.

A big thank you to Dr. Soniwala, all the nurses and the staff at Windsong Radiology for being the best there is. To my Mom, you have shown us all how strong, resilient, brave and tough you are. Thank you. Thank you for continuing to teach me every day.

-B