A Whole New World, A Whole New Year

The Beginning

We are in the final countdown of 2020. This year started off with promises and hope. 2020 was the start of something grand. Just hearing the sound of 2020, no more 19 - -, meant somehow things would be amazing. Turning that calendar page over just twelve months ago was a signal to ourselves and to others that the time was ripe for a new beginning.

What we got

Turn it over we did, flipping over our calendar to 2020 brought a whole lot more than we bargained for. Unhappy words like pandemic, Covid-19, social distancing, unemployment, ventilators, incubated, death, work from home, Zoom meetings, homeschooling, lock downs, essential workers, toilet paper hoarding, wash your hands, wear your masks - all of this certainly took over our hopes we had had, and gave this new calendar year a sour taste. It brought a year like we had never imagined before. What we got, in its entirety was a year of epic chaos.

The new normal

In these new times of Covid-19, life has certainly been nothing like we had ever fathomed. Somehow, we learned to take it all in stride and over time, it began to feel almost normal. The effect of all this in dealing with MMD always simmered in the background of my mind over the past nine months. I was always wondering and worrying if my coveted eye appointments would be placed on hold. Would my eye care be the same? Could I afford to miss an appointment? What damage would be done if the eye clinic or myself was forced to quarantine?

Fortunately, this was not the case, these visits were deemed essential. I faithfully kept my dates, treating these appointments as my life line. Helping myself maintan an aspect of normal life while being grateful for the essential nature of my trips. With time, patience, and adjustment, the ever-changing nature of 2020 became my new normal.

Next

Like the pages of a cartoon flipbook, the calendar has brought us to the end of a remarkable year. December brings with it treasured family traditions, and these holidays are being celebrated even with the veil of Covid overhead. Holidays will be celebrated even if it is not the same as years before.

Looking back over the year, I remember how important it is to truly appreciate all that we do have. All the medical intervention to stave off the effects of degeneration, and the race to defeat Covid-19. Even with all the bad, the loss of old ways, and the changes to daily life, there’s still been good this year. 2020 tried to kick us in the rear but through science, we can begin to believe that things will be better. It gives us the chance to look forward to what is next in our world, putting 2020 to bed, and move ahead.

A new year

So when the final bell rings and 2020 is behind us, when that ball drops and the page turns, we will welcome in this promising new year. Always trusting and hoping that 2021 will bring us signs of better days ahead. It is a hope that we all will have the continued benefits from our best scientific minds, be it in the field of eye health or the field of virology. So with this hope, let us look to better health and clearer vision in our dreams for this new year. That 2021 will be the beginning of bigger and better strides towards a healthy new year for all of us.