Among other things, the new “lovers” steal toilet paper, have a picnic in the middle of an empty football stadium and pose in front of a dumpster fire.
The clever commercial pretty much sums up what most of us think: 2020 is a year that only the Devil can love.
That is not to say that everything about 2020 has been terrible. Yes, some very bright spots have shined as we traveled down a very dark tunnel.
I got a new position at the newspaper and a new kitten with personality for days. I reconnected with friends I truly love and didn’t know I missed.
Despite the pandemic and the turmoil that came with the presidential election and the killing of George Floyd, marriages occurred and incredible new creatures joined our species.
Babies won’t remember 2020 and how god awful it has been.
Most of the rest of us will.
Maybe that is not a “good” thing, but it sure is interesting. It will take time to pick it all apart.
At few times in history have most people in the country, on the continent, on the planet felt the same things.
Yes we all ― well, the vast majority of us ― have hated 2020, but hatred is not the only emotion that ran through our veins as an unmistakable reminder that we are all flesh and bone.
Anyone can fall. The “greatest” and the “least” among us can and have succumbed to the coronavirus.
Amelia Robinson will host Dayton Daily News Community Conversations: What you Need to Know About the Coronavirus Vaccines at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15. The event will feature health experts and be streamed live on Dayton Daily News' Facebook page. Have a question? Send it to Arobinson@DaytonDailyNews.com
The pandemic, as its definition states, affected pretty much everyone.
How human is that?
We were all in denial during the early days of COVID when it just impacted people over there who we could not see. Some of us still live in denial.
There was the uncertainty of what would happen when health and government officials announced the shutdowns and people wondered if they would lose their livelihoods and be able to put food on the table.
Many have. Many can’t.
There was the sorrow of loss that grows and growls. The loss of “freedoms” and, more importantly, loved ones.
Freedoms can be restored, life cannot.
Credit: Lisa Powell
Credit: Lisa Powell
I hope that the next emotion we can all feel is relief.
You could see it in the eyes of the first to receive the coronavirus vaccine in Britain. Eyes gleaming above masks.
Relief is a step beyond hope. Sweet relief.
In a few weeks, the Devil will thankfully have to break up with 2020. She will simply run out of time, just as 2019 did. We will hope 2021 is far more loving to Homo sapiens.
Somethings about 2020 will fade from our collective memories.
If all goes as planned, the vaccines will be effective and accepted by the public and those freedoms we lost will be restored. Economies will grow.
Hearts will be harder to heal.
That perhaps will remind us that we are all imperfect, mortal and emotional beings.
Longtime columnist Amelia Robinson is the Dayton Daily News’ community impact editor.
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