Goodbye 2020. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!
We have been barraged with negativity about the year 2020. True, there were some bad things that happened this year. Okay, a lot of bad things. However, there’s always another side to the story.
10 reasons to love 2020:
1. The kids got more sleep.
Really, sleep has so many health benefits. So, when the kids all came home from school permanently in March, definitely a shocker, they were probably completely sleep deprived from years of waking up at unearthly hours to catch the bus or make it to school before the tardy bell. So, thank goodness they could finally sleep in, day after day, week after week, and get caught up!
2. The adults got to work from home.
We all had SO MUCH extra family time in 2020. Everybody was able to spend 24/7 with his or her significant other and children. We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. Mornings, afternoons, and evenings together. Wasn’t that fun?
3. The environment received a much-needed break.
Were there really dolphins in the canals of Venice? It was on Facebook anyway.
4. We had a mini, preparatory earthquake.
All those years of trying to get people to take the big one seriously finally paid off. And we switched out the size 2T clothes we had in our 8-year-old’s 72-hour kit. And got new granola bars.
5. The government handed out free money.
We don’t know where it’s coming from, but hey, free money! Who knew the government could just print whatever money they want? Maybe we should just print our way out of the national debt too. So many possibilities here!
6. The presidential election is over.
Or is it? Just kidding. Whether your first choice won or not, I think we can all agree that at least, for the most part, hopefully, it’s over, and we don’t have to watch any more debates.
7. We had a preview of what things will go first in emergencies.
I, for one, am buying an extra package of toilet paper every time we go to Costco from here on out. And water bottles. And maybe some yeast and flour in case there is no food, and I need to learn how to make bread. And whatever they make Oreo cookies from. Let’s stock up on that too. And maybe plant a cacao tree.
8. We realized other counties are jealous of Wasatch.
Remember when the Governor said Utahns could only recreate in their own counties? That was awesome! Could we make that an annual thing?
9. The shelters ran out of dogs!
Awwww…So many pets found new homes. And they were taken on walks all the time. And their owners got more exercise too.
10. ESPN showed the Cornhole Championship, old spelling bees, and the NBA players in a super-competitive game of HORSE.
Ha. That was super entertaining. I’ve never seen a huge, billion-dollar, maybe trillion-dollar, network scramble more. I can only imagine what the network meetings were like. “Ummm…We could have the NBA players compete in a game of HORSE.” Silence. The president of ESPN starts to cry.
Bonus: We learned to be more resilient and thankful.
Seriously, we all received a much-needed course in resilience. And we realized how many things we’ve been taking for granted. The Covid pandemic knocked us off our feet. Will we come back stronger and more prepared?
We badmouth 2020 like it was the worst thing ever. Covid has been devastating for communities and families. We have lost almost 2 million people worldwide. It’s unquestionably a tragedy.
However, the Spanish Flu, the one that our pandemic is sometimes compared to, happened at the same time as World War 1. Can you imagine how difficult that would be? It’s estimated that 20 million to 50 million people died worldwide from that flu, in addition to the 16 million who died in the war. Some estimates have Spanish flu deaths as high as 100 million because of difficulties in record keeping. Could we have handled that?
2020 brought with it plenty of trials, but also amazing advances in science and worldwide cooperation to stem the tide of this most-recent pandemic. 2020 was amazing in so many ways. Plus, now we have bragging rights to talk forever more about how we handled the pandemic of 2020, how it affected our lives, and how it made us stronger, more creative and innovative, and better able to handle challenges in the future. We’ve got this! Bring it on 2021!
Kidding. We don’t actually want 2021 to bring on anything. But if it does, I have lots of Costco toilet paper in the garage.
