A Note from the Editor

Wrap up 2020 with a big bow and move on

Well, we’ve almost made it through 2020. I remember the start of this year.

I had just placed as a finalist in the 2020 World’s Country Dance Competition, my publisher and I had just started laying out my new book, and I was finally feeling recovered from the injuries I sustained in the car crash.

I was ready to start 2020 with good health, no pain, and the ambition to make this year the best year. Then, I got the flu. My first two weeks of 2020 were spent in bed. My neck started hurting again and I needed more therapy.

And then . . . everything else that happened happened. Month by month and one at a time, all of the 2020 dance competitions were cancelled. Appointments to work on my book were cancelled. Therapy sessions were cancelled. A trip to see my family was cancelled. Sometimes it felt as though my life had been cancelled.

I made it through the first part of the year by going for long walks and by sewing up a lot of my fabric stash. I used fabric I had been saving for “someday,” because “someday” was “now.” When would I ever have week after week of being forcibly homebound again? Never, I hope.

My life is finally back to somewhat normal. I dance, I’ve had therapy, my book will be here any day now, and I’ve visited with my family. “Normal” never felt so good.

After what we have all been through this year, I think it’s helpful and healthy to reflect on the good things that did happen in 2020, because in spite of all the awful, there were moments of joy.

The only thing I know to do now is to wrap up 2020 with a big bow and move on to 2021 with confidence and faith that this year will be better.