I think we can all agree that 2020 is turning out to be an unforgettable year, even though we all want to put it behind us. We started out with a great annual trip to Puerto Vallarta but came back to an escalating health crisis which by the middle of March had shut down the whole world. Never in our lifetime would we ever experience such a crippling crisis. All travel plans were cancelled, restaurants and businesses closed, kids sent home from school with no return date scheduled, etc. Covid-19, a new virus took over our lives and as of 9/21/2020 has killed over 200,000 in the U.S. alone, and 31 million worldwide cases with 962,000 deaths.
Personally, Doug lost all his business overnight. We canceled a long-awaited Panama Canal Cruise, a trip to Oklahoma to visit family, a San Diego get away and a family reunion scheduled in June at Fort Worden. By June Doug started getting a little business and now into September he has gotten about ½ of it back. Some clients are no longer in business, so he won’t ever recover those, however he has gotten a few new clients.
As if the pandemic was not enough, May 31st was the beginning of riots all over the U.S. due to the officer involved killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis. Protesters have been calling for defunding of the Police and have caused violence and even death in their fight for it. Portland and Seattle are currently STILL having protests and flareups, and many police departments nationwide are making changes to address some of the systematic inequality and treatment of black individuals.
In August hurricane Laura made landfall as a category 4 in Louisiana causing major damage and killing 27. Hurricane Marco which was following Laura, weakened so did not cause the anticipated damage.
In September, unprecedented wildfires wreaked havoc in CA, OR and WA. Our kids in Oregon City were put on level 2 alert and had everything packed and ready to go before the fire turned and allowed them to stay put. Then smoke was so dense in WA and OR that it was classified as the worst air quality in the world and unsafe to even be outdoors. Even wearing masks due to coronavirus didn’t help filter the smoke.
Do you think someone is trying to get our attention, or shake us up? It sure seems that way. It has been unprecedented, and we are barely through quarter 3. Everyone wants it to just be over. As much as we want it to, this virus is not going to just “go away”. We need to remain vigilant and press forward. Someday, we will look back on this and wonder how we managed to get through it. Things will forever be changed, some for the better, and others just because of what we’ve been dealt. But we will get through it. One day at a time….
