What can I say that hasn’t already been said? What a year! I’d been thinking “what a crappy year this has been”, when Mom and Dad sent me their Christmas letter. It reminded me of all the things that happened in 2020 besides a global pandemic. My niece Tegan was born in May, I lost my last living grandparent Theresa Rogers, I attended 3 weddings despite the pandemic, my parents came to visit for Thanksgiving, and running and kayaking kept me occupied throughout much of the year. Still, it was a tough year.

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I discovered how much I really thrive on activity and like to be around people. Certain aspects of my job at the Texas Ranger Museum just didn’t happen this year – no museum conference, no outreach programs to the Alamo, no school groups. Instead, we took a deep dive into updating exhibits this year, which has been very rewarding. And somehow I managed to roll out a new museums collections website right as the shutdown hit, sharing our photos, artifacts and archives with the world online.

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I found other things to do this year that I wouldn’t have had time for otherwise. I brought my fire fans back out during the shutdown, went hunting for bluebonnets, ran a virtual race or two, and somehow tried a dozen new restaurants in Waco, including TruJamaica, Guess Family BBQ, and a ton of places in Union Hall. My virtual book club, bible study groups, and walks along the river kept me going. While I wouldn’t repeat this year for anything, there’s certainly more to remember than just the pandemic. Remember that.

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