Hindsight is 2020

 I know so many people felt this way about 2020- 

And 2020 was a truly bizarre year.  Everyone wears a mask now.  It's not a big deal anymore, and it's far stranger to see the occasional random person who isn't wearing a mask.  Growing up and all the way until this year, the only people you would ever see wearing a face mask were doctors in surgery, children with cancer, and old Chinese women.  That sounds silly to even say, but that is exactly what it was. Now everyone wears a mask, and I think it's great.

Big groups just look bizarre now.  We don't see them in person, but to see a crowd gathered in a movie always brings the comment, "Well that obviously happened before 2020".  Jason and Emma were looking at pictures of our 2019 visit to Temple Square and Emma observed with mild horror, "no one is wearing a mask.  And there are so many people." You just don't see that right now. 

Some things have changed for the better.  Six feet of social distance in stores is a great idea that I hope sticks around.  There is no squeezing in with strangers or standing too close to anyone ever.  Stores use more hygienic practices than ever before, and it's great.  

Some things have changed for the harder.  It has been hard to socially distance for so long, even for a family of homebodies.  

But for our family, it was truly a wonderful, one-of-a-kind year to remember. 

In simple terms, we were together.  We could forget the rest. 

But really, there is so much that we will always remember about 2020. 

2020 was the year that we moved.  We've been talking about it for years and this was the right year to do it. 

2020 was the year we homeschooled.  I don't yet know how we will all come out of this experience, but for now, it has been such a treat for all of us to do school and work at home.  This year more than ever before we learned the value of a happy home and a family that enjoys being together. 

2020 was the year that I stopped looking at the clock so much, and it has been an absolute indulgence to feel so free from the confines of the ever ticking time and relentless schedule that is life. 

2020 was the year we really figured out scripture study for our family.  And home church was a special experience that I will never forget.  It was the year that our kids learned how to bear their testimonies with confidence at home and I hope they will take that confidence with them into 2021. 

2020 was the year that we learned to fully appreciate what we have, because we truly never know when it will be gone.  Something as simple as going to the library or visiting with a neighbor or friend or running to the grocery store or dropping the kids off at school or going to church or the temple or planning a vacation and knowing you'll be able to take it... all of that changed in 2020.  There was a time in March that we went to bed at night and genuinely did not know what the world would look like when we woke up in the morning.  We will always remember that.

Similarly, 2020 was the year that we learned that the important things stay the same even when the world is constantly changing.  Our testimonies, how we treat our loved ones, and how we choose to act and react in the face of difficulties does not have to change based on our circumstances.  This year we learned that we really can do hard things!

2020 left us with a beautiful view, both literally and figuratively.  No one knows exactly what the future holds, but I do know that we are never going to forget all that we did, saw, learned and experienced in 2020.