Christmas 2020 recap and 2021 Happy New Year

Attorney Tom Olsen: Let's take a minute out to introduce my lovely wife and law partner, Chris Merrill. Good morning.

Attorney Chris Merrill: Good morning, Tom, and Happy New Year WDBL listeners.

Attorney Tom Olsen: It is good to be back on the air. During the holidays you get mixed up as, "What day is this?" Well, today is Saturday.

Attorney Chris Merrill: Yes.

Attorney Tom Olsen: It's good to be back on the air. We took a break last weekend, which was very nice. It's a nice opportunity to gather with our very close family members. Not as large a group as normal, but we had certainly our closest family and the people we see on a day-to-day basis and it was a very special holiday season for Christmas and New Years. We hope the same for our listeners out there.

Chris: Exactly, yes. We hope that each of you had as good of holidays as possible considering the circumstances, and importantly, we wish each of you an absolutely wonderful new year with many blessings for you and your family and hopefully many blessings for our country and this world considering everything going on.

Attorney Tom Olsen: Amen, and there's always traditions that go on in Christmas time and one for us is we always go to church with your mom, United Methodist Church in downtown DeLand. We're thinking we were not going to be able to do that this year, but they did open up for a church service. It was a limited number of people. We had reservations. There was social distancing. They did many things differently this year, but it still was a very, very, very, very special church service.

Attorney Chris Merrill: Very moving and very special and we are so thankful that we were able to and that they continued having it, because you're absolutely right, Tom, they put in-- Of course they did it differently, did all the appropriate things, but as many churches, many churches did not have the traditional Christmas Eve services that they usually do, and so it was a blessing that they did have-- They continued with it at First United Methodist. My brother, of course, has been singing a solo for over 20 years on Christmas Eve and, of course, that is always special to us as well. We're glad that that was able to continue.

Attorney Tom Olsen: Yes, and by the way, at the church they took our temperature on the way in, and again, we had reservations. So we might normally go to that service on Christmas Eve and it would be jam-packed, but there was just a limited number of people in there. I always want to remember because I feel certain by next Christmas things will be back to normal, but I always want to remember Christmas at a time of COVID. It was different because we couldn't gather with as many friends and family members as we wanted to, as a lot of our listeners out there were unable to, but it kind of made it all the more special. Simply because it's an opportunity to count your blessings and one of those blessing is to gather with family members from far and wide. Me and you, this year we could not do that, but even the limited was special and it's going to make it all the more special next year when we're able to get back to this gathering of family from all over the country.

Attorney Chris Merrill: Exactly, so to you listeners out there, whatever yours did look like this year, your celebrations of the holidays, we hope that it was as memorable for you as it was for us, and Tom, yes, that would be certainly the wish and prayer for everybody is that next holidays this time that things are more back to a-- Well, let's say this, a new normal.

Attorney Tom Olsen: A new normal. Speaking of things that we missed this year, because every year we go out to Epcot and we do the candlelight processional. We very much love that and of course we could not do that this year.

Attorney Chris Merrill: Exactly, that was one of the programs that simply did not happen as in others. So, again, hopefully in 2021 they will resume it.

Attorney Tom Olsen: We know a lot of people are ready for 2020 to be over. We're all ready for a better 2021, God willing, and I feel certain that that's going to happen for us. Us, us and our listeners out there and this country.

Attorney Chris Merrill: That would be absolutely wonderful, so let's all keep that as our positive forward thinking for 2021, for all of us.

Attorney Tom Olsen: Yes.