By Roger Siegmann
Well, we made it this far: it is December. The year seems to have flown by one slow and social-distanced day at a time; all masked up and six feet apart. We have missed vacations and friends. We have missed parades and the holiday celebrations we have become accustomed to; and the new norm seems to wear on each of us daily.
I continue to work on old cars alone or with Evelyn, and on occasion with Duke Marie, our rescue min-pin mix dog. I try to remain sane while listening to old music on 8-track tapes and cassettes as well as the more modern CDs.
I listened to Merle Haggard on a golden oldie mix and then stopped to listen again to all the words as they seemed to fit the mold for this month.
“If we make it through December, everything’s going to be all right I know!”
The song was about a friend of his going through troubling times and that phrase that then became associated with the rising inflation and staggering unemployment in 1973, the year the song was written. The song continues with words about a struggling father recently laid off at his factory job and his concern on making “Christmas to be right for Daddy’s girl”, knowing the child will not understand he can’t afford a Christmas gift for her.
The struggles are the same today as 47 years ago and the added COVID-19 pandemic magnifies the season’s woes. Businesses shut down, lay-offs, stay-at-home orders, unemployment benefits running out, rent due, and all the children being home schooled because schools are physically closed due to the COVID. And sadly, some families have lost loved ones this year from many things including from the pandemic, making for a lonelier December.
The good news we have in this 2020 December is that it looks incredibly positive that a COVID vaccine is about to be approved and distributed. The last nine months have been trying to say the least. Maybe the song will encourage some hope for the up-coming 2021, and for now we’re just trying to be positive and “make it through…
December”