Let’s get this out of the way first thing. The global pandemic really made this an interesting year. And to think, that we all used to watch 2020 with Barbara Walters and look forward with such anticipation.

I remember first hearing about Covid19 while running. I was listening to a NPR podcast that was talking about a brave reporter who had snuck his way into Wuhan to cover this peculiar sickness that was infecting everyone. At that time, there was no worry about what that would mean for everyone.

The first real impact that we felt was the cancellation of Zachary’s basketball playoffs. Suddenly, we were in a lock down. Zachary had school remotely. Daddy and I worked at home. It became a scary task just to go to the grocery store. My beloved park closed. Baseball was delayed. Our walks became around the neighborhood where neighbors clamored to say hi, but at a strange distance. Mask became the global mantra. By mid-summer, we slowly began to integrate again with the outside world, albeit masked and at a distance. Strange times indeed.

As bad as 2020 wanted to be, it didn’t us. We shared many special memories.

Baseball finally started by mid-summer. The boy and his new team continued to get better each week. Zachary re-grooved his swing and promptly hit 2 home runs. Pitched in 90 degree heat near New York. Played second, short and third base. They were champions with multiple tournaments. Most importantly, he got to share it with his friends and family.

We snuck in a fun couple of days in Ocean City with my side of the family. The boys chased girls or as Zachary said to Cameron, “look at those bombs”. I have no idea where he came up with that one. We spent a couple of days on the beach. But my favorite, was the sunset boat ride around the island.

Zachary turned 10. True to form, 2020 reared its ugly head. We had arranged a drive by to surprise him. With rain in the forecast, I prayed it would hold off. But we all know how that goes in 2020. It poured right before the drive by was supposed to start. So we packed everything up and headed to the park, with the ice cream truck, to meet the drive by line Take that 2020.

There were a couple of new adventures in 2020. The boy signed up to play trumpet in the band. While it was a little rough in the beginning, he does sound better. And he took tennis lessons over the summer. He was a natural, but man does he like to beat the heck out of the ball.

Mommy lost her best friend this year. I still struggle each day not having her here. But we know she’s in a better place, playing lots and lots of ball ball. Thank you Uncle Larry, Harry and Aunt Leta for taking care of her for me.

These two little rascals entered our life around Thanksgiving. They brought new life and energy. It’s really fun to watch their puppy wars which escalate rather quickly, but then result in utter tiredness and two very sleepy puppies.

Great Grandmom continues to be a warrior. She had a positive test for Covid, which scared everyone. But true to form, she soldiered on and didn’t really have any major issues. Thank you God.

USC football continued to suck. It just may be that the Clayrona Virus may be harder to extract than Covid 19.

A truly momentous day, we spent a summer day traveling to the “Best Waterfall in New Jersey”. Our travels took us up by New York. File this waterfall under “not impressed”. It turned out to be a man made waterfall which trickled into a small stream…I kid, but it wasn’t that much more impressive. With the boy on the verge of complaining, we saved the day with a visit, on the way home, to Washington Crossing. Hint to mommy, never, ever again cross that very, very narrow bridge between New Jersey and PA. Like a deer in the head lights, I started down it only to be staring at on-coming traffic and passing with the smallest of space. Whew!

So while there were many hurdles in this whacky year, we preserved. In many ways, we continued on that track of life. Taking one heart break and making it a new beginning. Sharing moments with friends and family. Learning new skill sets. Happiness is not a choice. It’s a state of mind.

Happy New Year, everyone.