For all the tumult and heartache, 2020 left us primed for hope and opportunity in the New Year. After a year like no other in living memory, it may be the perfect thing to remind of us that normal is wonderful.
While the first few weeks and months will still have lingering aftershocks from the most terrible past year – the next 20 days of the Trump administration could be a wild ride and it may be summer before COVID vaccinations fully penetrate the population – there seem to be a plethora of sublimely normal moments in store for us.
For me, that begins with seeing family and friends via something other than a high-definition video camera. And without concern that I may be jeopardizing their health if we haven’t all voluntarily quarantined prior to in-person get togethers.
My parents and my wife’s parents are all over 75 and now eligible to begin the vaccination regime. After losing my brother-in-law last year, every trip to the grocery store has carried concern that I would unknowingly pass along the instrument of another loved one’s demise.
After non-anxiety inducing trips to the supermarket (maybe even mask-less by the end of the year!), I am looking forward to in-person game nights with friends. Last year my New Year’s resolution included hosting a game night at least once a month. I checked off both January and February, but by mid-March I knew my resolution would go by the wayside.
We still played plenty online, but frozen screens and pixelated game pieces always reminded us how much we were missing. I cannot make a full 12 months this year, but maybe I can pick up where I left off in 2020, beginning in-person again by the end of March.
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