8 Good Things that Happened in 2020
We’ll all remember 2020 as the year of the coronavirus pandemic that upended our lives, closed restaurants, gyms, theaters, and took the lives of close to 2 million people globally and more than 352,000 in the United States.
Good things did happen in 2020. On a personal level, my novel, Goodbye, Tchaikovsky was republished by Royal Fireworks Press, I completed a book, “The Lip Reader,” after working on it for four years, and I learned to self-publish my orphaned science fiction novel,The Abduction of Joshua Bloom.
For all of us, good things did happen in 2020 bringing us together to celebrate marvelous achievements.
- Scientists all over the planet cooperated to decode the Covid-19 virus and from this work, discovered and manufactured vaccines that will prevent the disease.
- While we hunkered down in our homes, we learned that not all heroes wear capes. We watched the selfless dedication of nurses, doctors, and other health care workers as they put their lives on the line to save ours. This also included drivers, farm workers, and grocery workers who risked their lives to keep the economy chugging along.
- The United States launched astronauts to the International Space Station thanks to SpaceX, no longer needing to hitch a ride on a Russian spacecraft. The Dragon Endeavour lifted off from Cape Canaveral in May with a crew of two, which was followed by a November flight. A new era of space commercialization was born in 2020.
- Due to the pandemic and the recession which followed, carbon dioxide emissions declined. Also, the cost of renewable energy such as solar and wind declined quicker than the experts predicted.
- When the Australian bush exploded in flames last January, people all over the world banded together to bring aid to the Australian people. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Earth Alliance donated $3 million and a little girl in the UK raised over $2000 from her lemonade stand to help the effort.
- Black Lives Matter became a national rallying cry and a commitment to be intentionally anti-racist in our thoughts, words, and actions. Americans are confronting their ugly side with an effort to learn and improve.
- More than 159 million Americans voted in the election of 2020. It’s the largest voter turnout in U.S. history with 66.7% of eligible voters casting their ballots, even though the plague was still ravaging lives.
- The worst president in the history of our nation was defeated at the polls and the first female vice president was elected.
Yes, 2020 was a horrible year that not only included a pandemic, but riots in our cities, a devastating earthquake in Puerto Rico, the cancellation of the 2020 Summer Olympics, and wildfires exploding in the West making 2020 the worst wildfire season in American history. But many good things happened in 2020, too. Leave a comment and let us know something good that happened to you during this horrific year.
One good thing was, I found out where in Poland my father was born. I have been trying to find this out for a while now by asking my relatives and siblings but could not come up with a definitive answer. Because of the pandemic I had time to go through a bunch of paperwork that I have been putting off for the last 20 years. I came across my secret security clearance from 1971 that said my father was born in Dubiecko, Poland. I know I didn’t tell the FBI this when they were investigating me for my clearance, so I assume when they interviewed my parents back on 1971 (which I know they did) my father must have told them. The closest big city to Dubiecko is Reisha which is 30 miles away. I knew my grandfather (my father’s father) was a disciple of the Reisha Rebbe, so this made a lot of sense.
You are a brilliant writer and I am happy that you became my friend
My good thing in 2020 is that I was able to devote the time necessary to launch my website http://www.weusours.com. We Us Ours is a community devoted to bringing awareness to our relationships. We hope our daily inspiration and reminders help relieve our stress, loneliness, anxiety, and fear, etc.
We sell our We Us Ours merchandise on the website so that we can all be a participant in inspiring others to be more mindful of the people we love. We sell comfy t-shirts, face masks, hats, tote bags and pins.
Thank you for your participation the best writer, Michael Thal!
My good thing in 2020, was being able to spend most of my year home with my son. I’m thankful to be able to raise my own son.
That certainly is seeing the glass half full!
What a gift to see the lining of what certainly looked like a dark cloud. You inspire hope. You help us to look outside of ourselves. And you remind us that we are blessed in that we are still here to read your thoughts.