I think I have a new appreciation of people around me, since my husband and I didn't go to the last family gathering, about a year ago. We were still keeping our distance (covid) which makes things awkward, and wanted to have a late weekend away in glorious sunshine. My aunt died a few weeks before Christmas last year, so obviously, I'll never see her now. That was my last chance. We didn't go. I thought we'd see them at Christmas, but we didn't. No one else got together. Then my uncle died last week. That weekend holiday, a year ago, came at a cost I could never have anticipated after 2 years of avoiding everyone because of covid.