2020 Out the Door – 2021 Come on In – I hope the door does not hit 2020 on the backside going out the door. I’m sure there will be all kinds of titles trying to capture the most attention about a year that will go in the history books. I don’t think there has been one person who hasn’t been affected by the events in 2020.
2020 entered as a new era, a new year filled with all kinds of promise. It is a new year when we would have another census in the books. My Kansas City Chiefs had just won their second Super Bowl since 1969. Everyone was in great spirit – what a year this is going to be!
Then we woke up one morning to the news of the new flu that had entered the United States. This flu would be something most of us have never experienced. Schools and colleges started to shut down because of the flu. Businesses told their employees to go home and to work from their residence. Restaurants closed, sporting events came to a halt. The world had to deal with a pandemic called Covid-19. Everything for awhile completely stopped, except frontline workers and first responders who would soon have to take care of so many people getting this flu. We had never seen a flu season like this before in most people’s lives. Their regular yearly flu shot would not do any good. This type of flu strain was scary and deadly.
I am a retired person who has worked in the education field for many years. This year my heart went out to all of them trying to educate children of all ages. They are all creative people, but this year would be a different kind of teaching. Teachers stepped up to the challenge. Yes, they were tired most days, but their dedication to their student’s education was a priority in difficult times. I applaud them all!!!! My daughter homeschools and she had several people ask her about how to accomplish daily tasks or how to keep those creative juices flowing when it came to keeping children engaged.
2020 is the year we chose a new President, it was a mess, and we didn’t need the distraction because we were already in a difficult time with the virus. We got through it, but marriages, friendships, and other relationships were under pressure. It should have never been that way in the first place.
2020 was hard on the elderly population, one of which I am a member because we not only got sick with the virus easier, they are away from family and friends. I have not been able to see my grandchildren during this time because they are out of state. I chose to keep my distance from them because my husband is at high risk for the virus. We learned how to shop differently this year. You could not just walk around taking your time to shop. You had a list you stuck to it, and you got in the store and out of the store in short order. Grocery stores and other shops shorten their hours so people could be safer. My daughter got us a grocery membership to use, so we could have the groceries delivered right to our door to stay out of public places if we needed to.
This year I taught myself how to make masks. I knew how to sew on a sewing machine just looked on the computer for instructions on how to put them together. I made masks for my daughter and her husband and also made masks for my grandchildren. I wear my mask not only to protect myself but to protect others from me. It is a small sacrifice to make to keep me safe as well as others.
I worked on my family genealogy, and I worked on my blog. Somedays, I made progress somedays I didn’t, but I think it is better to stay in a routine of some kind. I am not the kind to sit and watch TV all of the time, so I crocheted while watching a football game, which kept me from eating snack foods. We all pretty much have gained weight during this year of the virus, but I tried my best to push the plate away. I also kept walking my dog Daisy every day the weather was good, she kept me honest about walking, even when I wasn’t in the mood sometimes. Who can tell my gal pal no!
We have finally reached December of 2020. We are talking about a vaccine for the Covid-19 virus – frontline workers will be the first to receive it. The elderly with high-risk conditions will soon be able to receive it as well.
So, let’s say it has been a very long year, and we don’t want to repeat this year any time soon. We will grieve for the ones who we have lost and say a prayer for each other. Let the word kindness be the word of 2021 instead of the pandemic in 2020.
Thank you to all frontline workers.
Happy New Year and God Bless us all!
Brumley Family Branches 