2020: Heartbreaks, Heroes, and Hoorays
2020…
The year of the toilet paper shortage, Tiger King, hoarding disinfecting products, fogged up glasses, cancelled vacations, Zoom, and oh yeah, the global pandemic. It’s been referred to as a shitstorm, and a dumpster fire, and for good reason.
There have been many sorrows, and much sadness. But there has also been light, and hope, and gratitude. No one has gone untouched this year, though many have suffered much more greatly than others. And yet, through this sorrow and pain there is growth. There is resilience. As much as 2020 has absolutely sucked, it has also been a year of transformation for many.
We will endure. We will not give up. And we will all have access to the good Costco toilet paper again.
In honor of this year finally coming to an end, I have asked some of my friends and family to share their heartbreaks, heroes, and hoorays. May we celebrate them all. May we go into the new year with a heart full of gratitude and a fire in our souls. A fresh start is on the horizon; let’s not waste it.
“Cancelling two trips (sucks), no baseball games to go to (sucks), working on the Hazard Tree Removal Program (good), getting to see my family for Mai Tai Mondays (good), getting to see my family at other times (good), no-one getting covid (really really really good!).”
“Heartbreaks: Missing people. In the first 5 months of quarantine my kids had three play interactions with other kids, and that includes seeing neighbors. I have friends from Highschool I normally see at least quarterly. We canceled on our Friendsgiving although they still had it, we could not in good conscience go. I have not seen them in over 9 months. We uninvited my parents from Thanksgiving to stay under the then applicable 3 household rule, and we ate outside. Now we are missing grandparents and holiday celebrations with family and we are just trying to hang in there. It is hard to be adhering (mostly) strictly when others aren’t. Added ostracization to sorrow.
Canceled vacations. We canceled Disney in March and rebooked for August, canceled again and rebooked for April 2021, and just cancelled again and rebooked for September 2021. Fingers crossed. Our first family ski trip in December was also canceled. We have a couples trip planned to mex in March 2021 that will likely be canceled. Hoping that Mike’s 40th bday celebration in New Orleans in June 2021 is possible.
Heroes: My kids. I have been amazed at their adaptation, their resilience, and their joyful spirit.
Hoorays: More slow family time. Think 1950’s style family days. It has been a blessing to see how much I overscheduled us in our pre-Covid life.”
“Heartbreaks: I had just gotten the call after putting our two year old daughter to sleep, ‘our office has to go.’ My heart sank. At least this time I had enough time to pack a bag for him. As I was finishing up and waiting for him to arrive home, there he stood opening the front door in his uniform. My husband had just enough time to grab his bag and give me a kiss goodbye. With tears in my eyes, I watched him get into his patrol vehicle and drive away with his partner. Now my heart was breaking as I wasn’t sure when I would see him next. I sent the dreaded text to my friend (and his partners wife). ‘And they’re off, text me if you hear from them first as I am sure I won’t get much sleep tonight.’
Heroes: My husband and his fellow officers were on their way to protect the State Capitol during what many called ‘protests.’ But in all honesty, it was more like riots. So much destruction of innocent towns and cities! So many injuries to officers protecting the streets. In our life, not all heroes wear capes. My hero, and my daughter’s hero, wears a badge. He gave an oath to serve and protect above all. My other heroes are my friends, some who are also police wives and some who are not. Their friendships are truly one of a kind and I am so blessed to have them in my life. Just as important as friends, are my family, and they are by my side as we walk through this crazy law enforcement life.
Hoorays: Through all the hard times that 2020 has thrown our way, we still managed to find happiness and hoorays! We bought 10 acres with my parents, in a town we love. We are currently in the process of building two houses for us to call our ‘new’ homes. It is such a blessing to see my daughter riding our side by side and tractor around the property with her daddy. It is such a breath of fresh air to see the mountains where our bedroom windows and backyard will be. Who knows what 2021 will hold, but I sure as hell hope it’s better than 2020.”
“What a year - 2020 - so glad to see it go! But as bad as it was, I feel so blessed this year; maybe more so than previous years.
There has been more time to readjust your ‘normal,’ which sometimes is not such a bad thing.
As far as HEARTBREAKS- I spent so many mornings crying this last year, as I watched the news and saw story after story. Heartbreaking stories of struggling families, businesses, all walks of life; of people that were sick or could not afford medicine, people who just lost a loved one to covid, or lost jobs. I have been just heart-sick for those people, and have felt completely helpless. There are so many in need. It seems so inadequate to say that I’m praying for everyone, but that’s what I can do for now. And I do pray that people recover, and find that things will get better, as we begin to heal and go into 2021.
As far as HEROES goes- there are so many out there: the people working the front lines of our hospitals, first responders as they navigate this unknown territory. The TEACHERS (my Cissy) that are out there trying to provide some normalcy to our children- that they can still learn during these difficult times. All the MOMS and DADS (Caitlyn, Bobby) that are home-schooling their school-age kids (and chasing after a toddler). All the people that have made their home their workplace (Wes), and continue plugging away to get all their work done in an environment that is so out-of-the ordinary!
To all the people who work in grocery stores, pharmacies and all those wonderful people who are delivering groceries, I am so thankful for all of them. Also a hero shout-out to all the unselfish people that are doing everything they can to help those in need! There are so many people out there to thank.. the list could go on and on.
As far as HOORAY: HOORAY that 2020 is almost a done deal!! There’s something to be said for ringing in a New Year. It gives us hope, and hope is a good thing. I hope people get better; I hope the vaccines help; I hope people get back to work; I hope going through this pandemic brings people together; I hope people are more grateful for what they have (as I am so very grateful); and I hope 2021 is a better year for everyone-hope is good, and that’s damn right!”
“I’ve managed to find a little silver lining in 2020, and that’s creativity. Somewhere along the way, I stopped prioritizing time to paint, write, and tinker, but all that changed this year. The simple act of creating something has provided me so much joy in such a dark year.”
“I have been thinking a lot about 2020 lately so this question is timely. I think nationally there were plenty of Heartbreaks, Heroes, and Hoorays. What was happening in the country, and world as a whole was just plain heartbreaking. Pandemic, rioting, election craziness, divisiveness, etc. We saw the rise of the frontline workers as our new face of heroes, very well deserved. As far as hooray, I think the creativity of the human race was a hooray moment. Whether it was a small business trying to survive, parents at home with kids homeschooling all of a sudden, or how folks have been creative in giving back to communities. All hooray worthy.
Personally, I have had the three as well.
As far as heartbreak. It’s little league baseball. Max was finally old enough to play so we signed him up and he was jacked. He was really hitting his stride on his team, the Storm. I volunteered as team manager, and I couldn’t have had more fun than that. We got through 2 practices and the season was called. Such an absolute heartbreak. Ever since Max blessed us 6 years ago, I dreamed of the day I could coach his baseball team, and this darn pandemic took that away. FOR NOW.
Heroes is obvious, that’s my wife & kids. Caitlyn has handled all of this crazy change with grace and dignity. All through the craziness of zoom calls, offline homework, Levi in the distance yelling for attention, she managed to launch an amazing children’s book that in 2 hours took her to Best Seller status. She truly puts everyone first. What a hero. The boys took it in stride as much they could for being 5 & 2 when this thing started. For the most part they went with the flow. There were some hard times of having to explain the change in our daily lives, and that was hard for little kids. To tell them they couldn’t play on the playground that is directly across the street, no more baseball, can’t see relatives, no playing with friends, MASKS. For the most part the boys have been troopers, and they will always be my heroes.
Hooray to us! We’re still here and in good spirits. We have stuck together through this whole thing and made the best of our situation. We made the holidays & birthdays as special as possible even though they looked a lot different than years past. We conquered a good amount of house projects as well. Hooray to us for not completely losing it, we persevered and kept our chins up. We always kept the most important thing front of mind, and that was family, love, and health. And to that I say Hooray!”