2020: You Came At Us Guns Blazing

I know there have been untold references and discussions and shows and specials on the year that was "2020," but I would be doing myself a disservice to my journaling if I didn't do my own post about it. After all, I will forget all those other shows and specials, but here, here I will have documentation of my own journey through the "year that was 2020." 

I remember choosing my word for 2020: it was self-care. I was going to make 2020 the year of taking care of myself in a myriad of different ways. I got off to a good start. I joined a gym and I was going fairly regularly. I had a positive mindset and I was being mindful of all the choices I was making whether food-related, friend-related, management of time, blogging, etc... Little did I know, or did any of us know, the absolute train wreck that was about to happen. 

I remember the day clearly. March 13th. A Friday. We had all heard the news of this Coronavirus and how it was rapidly spreading to the US. I was in school teaching on the 13th and at the end of our day, I was getting the kids ready to leave for the weekend. I clearly remember saying to them, "Have a good weekend. I will see you on Monday." After school, we were told to take our computers home and things we might need "in case" school was closed for a couple of weeks. I went out to dinner with one of my friends that evening and we had a great time catching up and laughing and talking of course with no knowledge of the news to come over the weekend and the following week. Sadly, that was the last time I got to see my students in person. That was the last time I got to see any of my friends until weeks/months later. It wasn't long after this that the whole world went into lockdown and Covid 19 was called an "unprecedented global pandemic."

Covid 19 was only part of the disaster that was 2020. Can I get an AMEN!

I'm putting this here so I can remember...

Here we go:

2020 started with the impeachment of DJTrump... 

*Kobe Bryant and his daughter and several others were killed in a helicopter crash

*Australia was on FIRE-literally all of Australia

*Prince Harry and Megan said "Peace Out" to the Royal Family

*The President is acquitted of the charges against him and Nancy Pelosi rips apart a speech on national television

*The whole Harvey Weinstein thing-found guilty and sentenced to 23 years in prison

*Economic disaster: millions file for unemployment/businesses close/restaurants shut down/stock market plunges

*Schools across the country are shut down until who knows when/teachers have to re-learn how to teach virtually
*Corona Stimulus check ($1200)/US sinking in debt
*George Floyd/Brionna Taylor/the many others

*Protests/looting/tearing down and defacing monuments (like what happened in the South?) Does defacing or tearing down monuments change history? Is it going to re-write the history books? NO

*BLM everywhere 

*The Tiger King (I still haven't watched it) took over the country/binge-watching all of Netflix 

*NYC is the scene of The Walking Dead. Trucks being used as morgues because of so many bodies. 

*Everyone started Zooming. It was the only way to be together!

*No face masks, no ventilators, not enough of any PPE equipment, cleaning supplies wiped out, no paper towels AND NO TOILET PAPER!! Hand sanitzer was like finding gold, that is if you could find it.

*Shortages on meat, baking supplies, groceries in general.

*Massive swarms of locusts/then Murder Hornets-seems like the start of The Hunger Games but we just didn't know it. 

*Numerous hurricanes all seemingly targeting the Gulf Coast

*People protesting the Lockdown with actual AR-15s

*Sporting events and concerts all canceled. No graduations, no weddings as planned, nothing... no one could do any of the big things/special events they had planned for 2020. 

*Kim Jong-un died but really didn't. (the "supreme leader" of North Korea)

*There was no going to the hair salon for haircuts or color to cover up the gray. It was months before we could go back to a real hair stylist.

*A lot of people died including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Chadwick Bozeman, Eddie Van Halen, Sean Connery, Charlie Pride, Kenny Rogers, Alex Trebek, and so many more.

*West Coast Wildfires

*Joe Biden becomes president-elect and Kamala Harris becomes vice president-elect

*A vaccine for Covid-19 becomes available at the end of the year through Pfizer and Moderna--the dilemma to get the vaccine or to not get it.

*Second round of stimulus checks as the year comes to a close/$600

*No crowds in Times Square on New Year's Eve. The ball still drops.

**PAUSE BUTTON: today is January 7th, but what the heck happened yesterday 1/6/21?? 

I was hoping we were finished with some "bad happenings" at least through January, but Noooooo! Some people not in their right minds thought it would be a good day to storm the Capitol... STORM THE US CAPITOL, scare people, wreck havoc, vandalize, and cause complete mayhem!!!! 

What.In.The.World.???

I was horrified and stunned. However, I was not surprised because very little surprises me anymore-sad fact but true. I watched the news until I just couldn't watch anymore. Today I am committing to praying more for our country and its leaders and the people who are becoming our leaders in two weeks. What else is there to do? Our country has been rocked to its core for a long time by people and events and yesterday's actions only put an exclamation point on its division. I am honestly scared about the future but not one bit of it is in my control so all I can do is pray and pray I shall. 

Ok, back to regularly scheduled programming...

Even though 2020 has been dubbed the "worst year ever," for me, it was also very good in many ways. This pandemic has caused the country, the world, to push "Pause" for a good long while. To me, this has been the greatest blessing to come from this craziness. TIME. So many folks got to spend real time with their families that never would have happened otherwise and who knows if it will again. It has made us all slow down and rest and dare I say, relax? Yes, relax! I got to spend incredible amounts of time with my little granddaughter, Caroline-aka. Babs or Tootles. She was born in September of 2019 so I have pretty much been able to be with her throughout her almost 16 months of life. I count this as a cherished gift. I have been able to be with the other two grands as well, just not as much as the baby. During the whole move thing, I lived with my daughter and family for a month until my house closed in Fayetteville. I was blessed to keep my job and maintain a living throughout 2020. Each of my children kept their jobs and were never threatened with eviction notices. Everyone had food to eat and food to share. I moved to a different city, sold a house, bought a house, got a teaching job at a new school. My daughter and son-in-law bought their first house together. Thankfully, I have been healthy during this pandemic. My family has been healthy and we do not take it for granted. We are so thankful. Our family was able to go on vacation together at the end of September. I put up my Christmas decorations much earlier than usual because, well, it was 2020. (the decorations are still up btw) Our family celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas and birthdays together. I was able to be with my family all year long and for that I am extremely grateful. I know so many folks could not, especially loved ones in nursing facilities and those far away. 

Truth be told, the "stay at home thing" hasn't really bothered me much. I am a homebody even though I do enjoy traveling and doing new things, but being at home makes me happy. Having all this time at home has also been an added blessing because I just moved and I have had time to unpack and organize and take my time while trying to figure everything out. Oh, I got cabin fever a few times, but overall I was content being at home. What I have missed are my friends and our get togethers. I miss just hanging out and getting to go on fun adventures. I miss everything about not getting together with my people. I miss going to the movies! There are things we all miss, but I choose to believe it will get better in this next year. I mean, it has to, right? So let's close out 2020 and bring in 2021 with a renewed hope for better and brighter days on all fronts. Let us not forget that kindness goes a long way. Kick judgment out the door! Be grateful for every day. Life is a gift. We certainly bear witness to this after coming through the last 12 months. I am not going to agree with everything you say or believe and you aren't going to agree with everything I say or believe, but we can agree to disagree with respect and love each for the other. 

Please take care and have a Happy New Year!

Love,

D~