The Worst Year

This year sucks.

Sorry about the crude expression, but it does. There is no other way to describe the year 2020. It has brought death on a massive scale. It has brought increased rates of suicide and domestic violence. It has brought massive business failures and job losses. It has brought stress, fear and anxiety. It has brought hours-long lines of people waiting for food from food banks. It has brought hoarding of groceries and toilet paper. It has brought out the best and the worst in people.

Has a year -- any year -- ever been this horrible for so many people? Not in recent history. I would guess that the closest any year has come to bringing so much death and suffering was 1918, when the flu pandemic ran rampant. Estimates are that some 50 million people around the world died of the flu, with some 675,000 American lives lost. Coronavirus, by contrast, has so far killed more than 1.78 million people, 333,000 in the US. And this pandemic continues to spread and the virus mutates into an even more contagious variety.

Millions have lost their jobs or had their hours cut dramatically. More than 100,000 businesses have closed for good. Children and teachers had to learn about remote learning via computer. Incidents of domestic violence and suicide increased, as did sales of alcohol. Millions are facing loss of homes and apartments.

I know four people whose dogs have died of cancer, two that died of other causes, and one person whose cat died, all in 2020. My dog died of cancer. My sister's dog is battling cancer. 

We lost the incredible jurist Ruth Bader Ginsburg to cancer. An online friend's mother recently died and her father is very ill. A former coworker lost both parents to the virus in a couple of weeks. He and his wife both had the virus. My cousin, her husband and their two teenage sons had the virus, with my cousin still struggling to recover.

On a personal level, this year saw the death of my old dog, following the loss of her sister a year ago. That's two deaths in just more than a year. I have been unable to travel due to the pandemic. I developed kidney stones and went through three treatments to get rid of them. And now I have new ones.

People are waiting in line for eight or nine hours for a box of food. Non-profit organizations are struggling to survive as donations and volunteer help dwindle.

I have been unable to pursue my passions -- travel and photography -- that keep me sa, ne, motivated and challenged. 

I watch as the outgoing president* does everything he can think of to overturn the election and sow mistrust about the democratic process. He continues to ignore the death toll of the pandemic, offering not one word of sympathy to those who have suffered from this horrible virus or who have lost loved ones to it. He continues to hold massive rallies and large holiday parties that spread the virus. He surrounds himself with lunatics from the fringe who encourage him to declare martial law to enable him to stay in office despite his overwhelming loss at the polls in November. He finally signed a bill that offers some small measure of relief to struggling Americans, after waiting until hours before the deadline as his sick mind works to do everything possible to keep himself in the spotlight.

I, along with millions of others, are counting the days until this nightmare ends. But even after he leaves office, the damage he has done to this country, and the damage he undoubtedly will continue to do, remains a real threat. 

As this terrible year finally approaches its end, all I can say is 'Be Gone!'