By Amy Miller

amiller@tnonline.com

I’m not going to lie, this year kind of stunk.

I remember standing at the window in a hotel in Scranton in early February, looking out at the light snow that fell overnight and half-hearing the morning television news chatter about a new virus that was spreading in parts of the world. The news, at that time, was saying this was not something Americans needed to worry about.

Too bad that newscast turned out to be very, very wrong.

That was my last real outing in the world until this past Monday. Kinda sad, right?

I’m not a homebody by any means so this year, while it has flown by, has felt like the longest prison sentence for a crime I didn’t commit.

This spring, summer and fall, my family has pretty much hunkered down, stayed home - minus our “pandemic picnics” as I began calling them at various locations throughout the area where we were extremely socially distanced from the world - and only ventured out to stores for food and essentials.

We canceled our normal weekly family dinners with parents in an attempt to keep them safe and replaced them with nightly FaceTime calls, rescheduled our summer vacation to the shore and made sure we had our masks and hand sanitizer in tow anytime we left the house. We essentially were robbed of a year of our lives trying to keep our family and our loved ones from catching a virus that has killed so many.

Some people reading this may say that we were nuts to put our lives on hold, but for us, sacrificing activities in the short-term was what we felt was best for our family.

In addition to our pandemic picnics, we found ourselves bringing back Sunday drives just to break the monotony of the weeks and enjoyed seeing the blazing colors of the region as the leaves changed this fall - something we normally didn’t take the time to enjoy.

But with the Christmas season upon us, and our family desperately needing some kind of magic in our lives during this very dark time, we decided on a whim to check out Knoebels’ new drive-thru light extravaganza, Joy Through the Grove.

All I have to say is it was well worth the drive (and the $15 to get in).

The effort the owners and staff put into this first-time event was evident as you drove through the park and camping areas.

Thousands of glittering, twinkling lights, creating Nativity scenes, Santa and his reindeer, Christmas trees, a lake and more lit up the path in true Christmas magic fashion.

It did not disappoint kid or adult alike and it showed us areas of the park I didn’t remember were there.

We heard “wows” and “pretties” coming from the back seat as our children - ages 7 and soon-to-be 3 (the day after Christmas) - looked out with twinkles in their eyes at the well-organized displays.

It was exactly what we needed to brighten our outlooks a bit considering our traditional trek to Hershey for a Christmas-themed night was postponed until next year and a visit with Santa at the Promenade Shops isn’t going to happen.

As we drove through the lights, I realized one good thing that has come out of this miserable pandemic. We have slowed down and gotten back to the simpler times in life as a family.

That’s something I never realized I missed, but finding it has been a bright spot.

Getting to see the kids in all their cute (and at times completely crazy) glory has both driven me nuts and made me happy that I am getting to see them grow up more than I had pre-pandemic.

I’m not going to say this year hasn’t been a challenge, because honestly, there are times throughout each day I feel like I am drowning, but the birth of Jesus and Christmas, while the holiday will look quite different as we scale down our celebrations this year, is the perfect ending to this no good, rotten, very bad year.

May you find your light in this darkness.

Stay safe and Merry Christmas.