A year of uncertainty, anxiety and fear, 2020 was something that none of us expected. With the first two months noted for the fires in Australia and the death of a renowned basketball player and his daughter, Kobe and Gianna Bryant, along with their peers, the year had only begun. 

COVID-19 took the world by storm in late February and early March and plagued the months with rapid changes and uncertainty. Lockdowns, online classes and closed restaurants became the norm as cases climbed higher and higher across the world. People lost their jobs, kids worked on school from their computers and the new reality was a life stuck in houses and rooms for hours, days and weeks. 

The deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd ignited a movement against police brutality, where thousands took to the streets to share their words of change. By the time most of the protests had come and gone, it was only June. Barely half the year had come and gone. 

These past few months have gone by in a whirlwind as more and more people felt the strain of the ever-rising cases and opening states. Political divisions ravaged as a close political war for the presidency brought out a record number of voters.

Yet, as people came to the polls to vote, hospitals felt the strain as a record number of lives were lost each day. These last few months alone the deaths in America climbed from 250,000 to 300,000 to almost 340,000 as the year rounds out. 

We’ve lost our loved ones, we’ve lost our jobs, we’ve lost our dreams, we’ve lost our inspirations, and yet, we have made it to the end of the year. A milestone we can all find comfort and joy in. 

Though 2021 doesn’t guarantee the happiness and triumphs we long for, it offers some hope and light at the end of a dark tunnel that we have all stumbled through.

Dear 2020, we won’t miss you.

Dear 2021, welcome.