Dear 2020 Sunoak

Dear 2020 Sunoak,

It goes without saying that this was the hardest year yet. You started the year off with a ton of optimism because new year = new us.

We got to go to Cambodia in January. And we love Cambodia. I wish we were packing right now to go back but we can’t because we (and I’m using the collective “USA” we) fucked up. We didn’t pay attention to a looming worldwide health crisis until it was too late mostly because it was an “Asian” problem. And now, no one wants to let us come into their countries.

We had to start wearing masks, reteach ourselves how to wash our hands, and stop seeing the people we love the most for fear of killing them. We developed a love/hate relationship with video chatting and stopped wearing jeans and bras.

You are one of the lucky ones. It may not seem like it but you are. Your jobs slowed down but you were able to pay bills and there is no risk of you going hungry or being evicted.

Hopefully, the lessons of 2020 will stay with you as you grow into 2021 Sunoak.

It’s just taking me a minute to figure out what all of them are right now. The losses we’ve had in 2020 are still too real and the horizon seems so so so far away.

But I guess in the end, remember that 2020 was shitty but you're still here.

¯(ツ)/¯