2017 has been a year with unusual highs and lows. Deep loss is difficult to describe, freak accidents test my mental fortitude and worry for loved ones is far more stressful.
In the world of tennis, 2017 is filled with surprise. It is probably the closest thing to miracle when Roger Federer (GOAT) won the Australian Open and the two tennis masters. My husband and I were in Cloud number nine in Indian Wells, and we witnessed Federer winning the Indian Well Mater on a beautiful day in a full stadium.
I believe most people need something to engage their time, and engage their mind. I work in a company which cares about the employees, their well being as well as their family. And I am lucky to have a reasonable job to engage our mind.
Exercise is among the best medicine, and I exceed the requirement of 150 minutes of moderate exercise for most weeks. I earn a “healthy” mind and body amidst difficult life moments.
I reminisce the dinner with high school friends, the lunch with college friends and the lunch with the coworkers of my first employer in this year. These are the friendships that has lasted more than two decades, with long periods of minimal contacts when we have been busy with raising families or chasing career successes. It is heartwarming that our relationship remains strong.
My daughter were in Japan for a summer project; my son went on his first solo international trip to Toronto for a summer study. 2017 may be the last year prior to the empty nesting experience, and there are still so much I want to pass on to them in the remaining short timeframe. At the same time, I look forward to spending time with my lifelong hobbies – tennis, exercise, hiking, reading and writing, helping others or just learning about new things.
I was in Hong Kong in June and had some really good family gatherings. There was the hike with my brother at the Hong Kong Unesco Global Geopark on a hot and beautiful summer day. And I spent a fair amount of time on the bedside of my mother.
September 2017 has been my saddest month with the passing of my mother. Whether it is better to obsess with loss or escape through routines, I do not know. Modern life makes haste of life events as if our brain can switch on and off our emotion, like the advance of computer processing. I return to work, return to school, return to daily routine within a week or two, while the loss is still so fresh and painful.
The multiple heel bone fractures of my son created such a trauma that forced us to set 
aside the loss of my mother. I had to deal with the heart wrenching moments of helplessness. My husband and I faced the busy reality of doctor visits, surgery, extra day care routines, extra nutrition and his rehabilitation. My son had to deal with school, the injury and the college application. It has tested our stress tolerance level to the max. Our health is being tested, and it is a relief that we stay healthy to deal with the hardship.
2017 has been filled with unusual events. I experience in first person how losses stick in our mind so much more than gains. 2017 will be remembered as a difficult year of loss and injury after some personal loss and trauma in 2016. When life is at a low, it can actually go lower and then lower; even in very low moments, there are a long list of valuable things that cannot be taken away. It is such a reminder for us to treasure all the things around. The near-miracles witnessed in the world of tennis unexpectedly give us hope that anything is possible.
oliviatamccue 