LETTER TO THE EDITOR: The promise of hope and the real reason for the season
I’ll start with the understatement of the year: 2020 hasn’t been great. Each month we’ve encountered a new issue, a new trouble and a new worry. 2020 has been filled with dread and it makes it almost impossible to find any good. How do we move forward into what is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year when the year has been 2020? Whether you personally have been hit hard in 2020 or not, you probably know someone who has. 2020 has afflicted its suffering far and wide, so again I ask, how can we find cheer in a year such as this? My answer to this question is that now more than ever we cannot forget the real meaning of the holidays. There is no doubt the holiday season will look different this year. The hustle and bustle of the season will be toned down, loved ones may be missing from holiday celebrations, and there might be fewer presents under the tree. Holiday time in 2020 won’t look like holidays of the past. So much of this year has been focused on what we can’t do rather than what we can. 2020 brought us a pandemic and a worldwide lockdown. Instead of focusing on where you couldn’t go, did you take a moment to enjoy time to be still? 2020 brought us online schooling and remote work. Instead of focusing on the stress of having your kids home all day, did you take a moment to enjoy the time with your children that you would have otherwise missed? 2020 brought us face masks and a toilet paper shortage. Instead of fighting/complaining about mask mandates, did you take a moment to realize that you could be saving someone else’s life? As we arrive in the full swing of the holidays I write to you to express the importance of holding on to the simple message of the season: the promise of hope. Hope is the light in the darkness. Hope is the rainbow after the storm. Hope will always overcome hurt. Traditions may look different this year, and everyone may not be able to be together, but the spirit of the holidays is constant. Muster the courage to keep going because no matter how grim it looks now, it will get better. That’s the promise of hope and the real reason for the season. Kimberly Stapleton, MBA Darlington