It is hard this year-end, to take stock of the year past. Shorn of milestones, time became viscous and memories of May are elusive in December. It's befuddling to answer the question "how are you?", because it's hard to know what have we held in, while we counted our blessings, (rightly) stoic about our anxieties and yearnings in the face of other people's far greater sufferings.