Telling Our Story a Few Lines at a Time

                 Midway through 2019 (Remember 2019?  Good times.), I ended up with a diary in a mixed bag from the thrift store.  It was completely blank, so I figured I might try it out in the new year.  It's a five year diary that gives you a few lines each day--low commitment.  I could write for a few minutes each day about what happened that day, and in five years, I could see how our lives changed.  I managed to keep it up for the whole year, with only a few dry patches.  It's fascinating to go back through it now.

                At the beginning of the year, my major concerns were getting Kiddo back and forth to school on time and getting Tiny to nap at the right time to get some work done.  We traveled to the mission Kiddo was assigned to learn about just how cruel a white man with a Bible to hide behind can be.  Tiny was developing nicely, seriously considering taking some steps.  One of my annual goals was to do more weekend tourism, so we visited the Wincester Mystery House.  Most of the mystery is that the house got heavily renovated after the earthquake by someone who was getting a bit batty. 

                By March, I was fretting about Kiddo's anxiety and getting the shows done without losing my mind.  I wrote about how much I would enjoy getting a break when the shows would open, and wondered what work I would find after that.  Then the narrative turns to national news and finding ways to keep everyone safe and sane. 

                I've restarted the book with the second year, and it feels like the person who started it is a few light years away.  We will never be precisely those people again.  I feel like this year has taught me how resourceful I really can be, and has allowed us to slow down and take better care of each other.  For this, I cannot feel the rage that so many of my friends show to 2020.  It has not been perfect, nor has it been ideal, but it should not be wiped from our memories.  I am hopeful that 2021 can give us another chance at many of the things we missed in 2020 and that we can find ways to heal the damage that has been caused this year--by politics, by the pandemic, and by the shutdown of the economy.

                It looks like we're in for more shenanigans this week in national politics, and I don't know if there is a clear solution.  I can only hope that our elected officials recall the part of the oath they swore that related to upholding the Constitution rather than the special interests of their individual party.  May the right thing happen safely.

                In other news, I finished my first book of 2021--Hyperbole and a Half, by Allie Brosh. Highly recommended.