When I think of you, I imagine how much potential you had

Stacy LambatosDear 2020Leave a Comment

When I think of you, I imagine how much potential you had

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Dear 2020,

When I think of you, I imagine how much potential you had. I think of all the travel, weddings, tailgates, and family traditions that we had planned. I think of us opening a new chapter in life as we welcome my first born into the world surrounded by family and friends every step of the way.

I don’t want to think of all the pain, anxiety, and separation you have caused, but it’s hard to ignore the damage you have caused. You pushed my anxiety to its breaking point, divided our world, put us all in quarantine. You took March Madness from us, put sports on hold, pushed our medical professionals to the breaking point, grounded planes, and changed the way we all work.

Now it may not be fair to place all the blame on you, to tell you the truth, we have not handled this well. Between being poorly prepared for 2020 and the media feeding off the fear of the world, we have created this, pain, anxiety, and separation for ourselves.

Despite the darkness you have created, you have brought new life to this world. We have been able to see into the lives of our bosses, co-workers, and customers in a way we have never seen before. Whether their dog joins a video call or you hear screaming kids in the background, you break barriers that the office created. You have shown us that limiting commuting and manufacturing can truly have a great impact on our environment. You finally answered my dog’s wish that I never leave her alone ever again. You gave me 2 hours back each day by shorting my commute to work from 30 miles to 30 steps. You gave me the chance to get close to my neighbors and be there for them in a time of need. You pushed me to finish those home projects I never had time for.

Most of all, you were there to welcome my first born into the world. Well I would have much rather been surrounded by my family and friends, it was just my wife, a team of medical professionals, you, and I in that delivery room that day. 24 hours after arriving to the hospital, our miracle arrived. The world stopped and I forgot about all the pain you have caused us. All I could think about is the perfect bundle of joy that had just joined us in this world. Now, I would later pop back into reality and realize that I did bring our baby boy into this crazy mess of a year you have created, but it also made me realize that you are not the first bad year to survive.

A few that come to mind are 1914 to 1918, 1929, 1939 to 1945, and well, quite honestly, there are too many terrible years to name. However, there are certainly more good years than bad; therefore, there is hope, that 2021 will learn from your mistakes.

As your time comes to a close, I would like to thank you for all the good you have brought into my world and would like to leave the bad memories with you as I move on to my new host, 2021.

Kind Regards,
Jeffrey Irish

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