Closing Message For 2020
First, my apologies to those few who have asked that I not mass tag them. I promise you, this will be the very last time. And for those of you I may have missed, hopefully, you will run across this in your Prose travels.
From a deadly pandemic to a global movement for racial justice, the year 2020 has certainly experienced its fair share of world-shifting events.
These are some of the things up to this point that happened in 2020.
The country faced one of its most devastating wildfire seasons as the blazes continued from December 2019 into the new year and burned a record 47 million acres, displaced thousands of people and killed at least 34 people.
Say it isn’t so, but we all know it happened. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave the royal compound.
The World Health Organization announced January 9th, that a deadly coronavirus had emerged in Wuhan, China. In a matter of months, the virus has spread across the globe to more than 20 million people, resulting in at least 751,000 deaths.
The legendary Los Angeles Lakers player was killed along with his daughter, Gianna, and seven others when their helicopter crashed in Calabasas, Calif., on January 26th. It was a loss felt for quite some time.
The president faced an impeachment trial in January on charges that he asked Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. He was ultimately acquitted by the Senate on February 5th.
Harvey Weinstein was convicted of raping an aspiring actress and sexually abusing a TV and film production assistant. The verdict was celebrated by his dozens of accusers and their supporters as a watershed moment for the MeToo movement.
On March 8th, the Stock Market felt its hardest hit with a massive single day loss that plummeted and caused thousands of people to quickly rethink their finances and their future.
The police-involved killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor this year sparked a wave of peaceful — and sometimes violent — demonstrations and riots across the world to demand an end to police brutality and racial injustice.
More protests erupted in August when 29-year-old Jacob Blake was shot by a Kenosha, Wisconsin, cop and paralyzed from the waist down.
Biden becomes the Democratic nominee with Kamala Harris as his running mate.
Jeffery Epstein committed suicide while sitting in jail awaiting trial for pandering and sexual abuse of minors.
Millions of acres in Washington and Oregon went up in smoke with massive wildfires.
The death of a political icon—Ruth Bader Ginsburg—and on a person al note, what transpired after her death was a mockery smeared on her good name.
Trump tested positive for Covid and Eddie Van Halen dies at the age of 65 from Cancer.
The TV game show, Jeopardy will never be the same when Alex Trebek, dies from Pancreatic Cancer, and also the death Of Sean Connery, two ultimate icons.
The first Covid vaccines were administered December 14th.
Sadly, 2020 isn’t leaving to make way for 2021 on a good note. The Stimulus Bill and the National Defense Budget have been waylaid by Trump. This means our military is financially in trouble and also leaves the American people without any more hope of real relief.
But I want to end this on a good note if I can.
We have all struggled to make ends meet, to keep our spirits, hopes, and dreams alive for each day we face. My hope for all of you—may you find and continue to use the strength within you to persevere, continue to rise up, continue to love those you care for most, continue to help where you can. Find it in your heart to forgive those who wronged you and then move on to other things.
In the long run, there is no “I” in “We”—we are all in this together, and this means no matter what part of the world you are from.
“Friends are friends, no matter where, no matter what—they just are.”
Let’s do our best to make 2021, the bounce back year.
May your year ahead treat you well.