Things Keeping Us Going, New Year's Edition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If there was ever a year to celebrate the ending of a year and the fresh start that January 1st implies, it was 2020. Of course, thanks to the relentless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/sickpilgrim\/2021\/01\/things-keeping-us-going-new-years-edition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Things Keeping Us Going, New Year's Edition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If there was ever a year to celebrate the ending of a year and the fresh start that January 1st implies, it was 2020. Of course, thanks to the relentless\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/sickpilgrim\/2021\/01\/things-keeping-us-going-new-years-edition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sick Pilgrim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-04T11:55:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/615\/2021\/01\/135665528_10219688275417112_2427728117677963131_n-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Maren Grossman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Maren Grossman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/sickpilgrim\/2021\/01\/things-keeping-us-going-new-years-edition\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/sickpilgrim\/2021\/01\/things-keeping-us-going-new-years-edition\/\",\"name\":\"Things Keeping Us Going, New Year's Edition\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/sickpilgrim\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-04T11:55:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-04T11:55:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/sickpilgrim\/#\/schema\/person\/dfce41f5453360a6f6e69ef86b4cdbe3\"},\"description\":\"If there was ever a year to celebrate the ending of a year and the fresh start that January 1st implies, it was 2020. 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{"id":8991,"date":"2021-01-04T06:55:36","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T11:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/sickpilgrim\/?p=8991"},"modified":"2021-01-04T06:55:36","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T11:55:36","slug":"things-keeping-us-going-new-years-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/sickpilgrim\/2021\/01\/things-keeping-us-going-new-years-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Things Keeping Us Going, New Year’s Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

If there was ever a year to celebrate the ending of a year and the fresh start that January 1^{st<\/sup> implies, it was 2020. Of course, thanks to the relentless Covid-19 virus, so many of the big celebrations we typically share around the world just didn\u2019t happen. There were no crowds in Times Square. Hogmany, Edinburgh\u2019s holiday street festival, was cancelled. London, Dublin, and Vienna followed suit. Not only were New Year\u2019s festivities in Rio de Janiero cancelled, but so is Carnivale.<\/p>\n}

Still, here at Sick Pilgrim, we are fervently holding onto tradition, celebration, and hope.<\/p>\n

My clan instituted a brand new tradition for New Year\u2019s Eve\u2014a birthday party! My first grandchild, Sweet Baby James, was born the afternoon of December 31, 2019. So, this year, my children gathered for pulled pork sandwiches, presents, and banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (EVERYWHERE. THAT FROSTING GOT EVERYWHERE) for our first New Year\u2019s Eve birthday celebration. It\u2019s already a family favorite! Mary, having a husband who really gets her, enjoyed ginger spice octopus cake. (No, there is not octopus in the cake. The cake was baked in the octopus cake pan that her amazing husband got her for Christmas.)<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here are some other things that are Keeping Us Going into this New Year:<\/p>\n

My favorite New Year\u2019s tradition is to say, \u201cSee you next year!\u201d to people I\u2019m going to see the next week. Ha. But really\u2013 I could spin that into a poignant bit \u2026 Also, every solstice and\/or New Year I like to make Swedish visiting cake<\/a>.\u00a0 \u2013Joanna Penn Cooper<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Every January I become obsessed with stars. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s the thought of the Three Wise Men and the Christmas star, or if it\u2019s just that January is when the dark and cold sets, really sets, in. I get to longing for light \u2013 any light, including the tiny pinpoints of brightness shining from the sky. In anticipation of that longing, we\u2019ve taken to making paper window stars<\/a> over the Christmas break every year. In addition to evoking stars in a cold night sky, they provide a nice punch of color against the gray landscape of January and February. \u2013Maren Grossman<\/p>\n

Happy New Year to us all!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"