Dear 2020,
You were a wildly unpopular year, and it would be quite the understatement to say everyone is happy to see you go. I wasn’t your biggest fan either, but I don’t think flipping the calendar page means we are done with you. I don’t think we’ll ever really be though with you, to be honest. You are a part of us now— A page in our story, a piece of our history. And as much as we’d like to shrug you off— to leave you in our past, forgotten and abandoned— we can’t blot out an entire year of our lives, now can we?
So I’ve decided, if you’re coming with me into the coming year, I get to pick what you pack in your bags.
Yes, 2020, you could pack 100s of suitcases full of tragedy and ugliness, and I’m sure some of it will find it’s way in no matter how hard I try to keep it out, but you could also fill your bags full of truth, beauty, wisdom, and perspective. It’s all just a matter of what I allow you to bring with you.
I don’t want your divisiveness and your dissension, but I’ll let you bring the moments you provided to take a good look at the other side and learn from those who don’t always think like me.
We’ll be leaving the prejudice and bullying behind, but pack the compassion and awareness that could be found from those gracious enough to extend it.
Leave extra room in your bags for the love from brave souls who managed to keep shining light in the darkness.
Go ahead and fill your suitcases with all the courage you can— The courage to face the unknown, to adapt, to try new things, to stand up for what is right, and to let go of what can’t be controlled.
Shove in all the creativity you released this year (roll it up real tight if you need to make it fit)— The times we managed to be together while we were apart, when we forged new paths when the road disappeared from under us, when we invented new solutions to problems we didn’t even know existed.
2020, you complicated mess, your time is coming to a close. I don’t know what 2021 will hold, but for all that you’ve done wrong, you’ve also taught me that we can handle anything it could try to throw at us if we’re willing to look beyond ourselves. I won’t thank you for too much, but I’ll thank you for that. I didn’t enjoy my time with you much, but I am better for having survived you.
Check your bags one last time, it’s time to go. The future is ahead, and I’m believing what’s in your suitcase just might help to make the future brighter.
Love (and— let’s be real— a little bit of hate),
Marilla