Easter miracle during a pandemic

Last Updated on October 28, 2024 by Ellen

Easter during a pandemic on lockdown in the Philippines turned out to be a terrific day. I hope yours was equally awesome.

What made the day great was my ability to make choices. This is miraculous.

I took a sunrise swim with our landlady and her three dogs and puppy. How on Earth can a day go wrong from there? After all, you’ve heard that GOD spelled backwards is DOG, haven’t you?

Dog paddle races were fun! Then I floated around and watched birds in the sky. I saw small fish jump out of the water. The water was warmer than the air, at first. Once the sun was on the move, it turned into the hottest, stillest, most humid day yet since we arrived last month.

I chatted through text messages with my mom, as I do every morning. Dad was next to her, as he always is. I picture them in their home, safe and comfortable. They are self-isolated and hanging tough, like all of us. They are a world away from me on Long Island.

Next, for breakfast, I had coffee, pineapple, mango, boiled egg and bread. The fruit was so awesome. I tried not to think (too much) about all of the people who don’t have fresh fruit to eat.

I worked on the newsletter, which updates family, friends and readers on this and that. (You can sign up at the bottom of this page.) Mom Diane and I chatted. She shared her experience with Holy Saturday service the prior evening.

Then I read a few news articles — not nearly as many as I’ve read on recent days. I have a few ebooks checked out from the library, but I find they are difficult crack. Real life is so much stranger than fiction, and I’ve devoured a lot of news over the last week.

I decided to read a few essays about how the future might look if we decide to change it for the better. (I highly recommend this one.)

I watched my husband jog up and down our small street. I took a short nap.

A Zoom ‘happy hour’ with some friends in the late afternoon brought me much joy. They are now in the U.K., Germany, Singapore, Thailand… a wonderful group of people I hope to see in person again. As soon as… possible.

Mom Diane made a delicious Easter dinner of roast chicken and potatoes and veggies.

If you’ve read this far about my mundane day – my Easter during a pandemic on lockdown in the Philippines – there is now a payoff for you. I’m going to share something personal and special with you, dear reader.

Yes, my choices for today were limited, as they are for us all during this deadly pandemic and looming global depression. But when I said my choices were miraculous — I really meant it.

Ten years ago, on April 12, 2010, I took my last drink. Back then, I’d lost the power of choice over alcohol. I felt like I had no choice – but to drink. My alcoholism was advanced. I checked myself into a hospital to dry out and get medical, emotional, spiritual help.

The next day, April 13, 2010, is my ‘sobriety date’. It’s the first day I did not drink, and it kicked off a miraculous run of thousands of days of continuous sobriety.

Today, Easter, is day 3,652 sober for me. That’s nine years, 11 months, and 30 days. That’s a miraculous number – but who’s counting?

The numbers speak nothing of my riches over those ten years: belief in a Power greater than myself, clarity of thought, a functioning liver, friendships all over Earth, the man I always wanted to marry, and so much more.

No matter what choices present themselves during my mundane days, for me, every day is like Easter. Every single day is miraculous — come hell or high water, bull or bear market, layoff or promotion, breast cancer or clear test, pandemic or not. Every day I chose not to pick up alcohol is a miracle.

If you have a problem drinking, and would like to know how Ellen quit liquor, please contact her. She will share what worked for her in private.