Dear 2020,
I will never forget you. I am not sure anyone will ever forget you. Not even if we want to. You made “masks”, “social distancing” and “quarantine” the new buzz words. Your tests felt like someone was sticking a chopstick up our noses. You shut down schools and businesses, forced us to stay at home, cost people jobs and, sadly, you stole hundreds of thousands of lives. You were a real crap show.
But to be fair, you had some glimmers of goodness. You forced us all to take stock of what matters most in our lives. You shoved the situation right in our face and made us realize money, material things and endless activity schedules are not NEEDS. It was like a grade school lesson of wants versus needs, only it painfully played out in real life instead of on a worksheet.
While I can’t forget all the awful things that our family and millions of others struggled with, I will be sure to remember the positive things as well. The long bike rides, the suddenly clear calendar, the backyard picnics, the fort building… all the things that took on a newfound sense of fun when there was literally nothing else to do. No vacations to plan, no trips to take, nowhere to go.
So while I say I will never forget you, I’m also realizing how important it is that we don’t. You revealed our fortitude and unwavering commitment to punch this pandemic in the face and move forward.
Your move, 2021,
Julie
