The past is not dead. It’s not even past.”
-
William Faulkner
It is the first day of 2020 and, in all honesty, there is
not much we can say about this year right now, so there is a tendency to look
back at 2019 and think about all that happened. Still, people can feel it is
over, done, kaput! The past is the past. Let’s focus on what is to come.
Everyone finds themselves in the same place as the calendar page turns to January, but it is how we react to it that is different. 2019 is barely cold, so
why kick the old man to the curb? Should we welcome the nascent 2020 as warmly
as if it were a cute, cuddly Baby Yoda? Yes, of course we should, but how wise is
it to look back at the past year and think about everything that happened? Should
we let the events of 2019 dictate how to handle the new year ahead?
This is not just the end of a year but also the end of a
decade. Think about what you were doing on December 31, 2009. Where were you
and who was with you? Sadly, I have lost loved ones since that date, and yet
they seem oddly present in my daily life. I think about them often and, in the
case of my father, I communicate with him daily. In this way the past doesn’t
seem past at all.
Still a decade is a ponderous thing to weigh on one’s
mind, and its heft can be a bit overwhelming. Think about those ten years – 120
months, 520 weeks consisting of 3653 days (thanks to Leap Years) – and all that you did, said, ate,
drank, and slept. Is it even possible to process that time in a way that is
equitable to all the memories involved?
So, how do you look at the decade? How do you look at
2019? As something over and done with? Or is it a living and breathing thing
that we can revisit, examine, and treat as a work still in progress?
Most of us remember the major events of the teens, and I
have seen end of year and end of decade lists regarding movies, TV, music, news
stories, celebrity deaths, and so on. My intention is not to regurgitate any of
that. There are enough of these sometimes very subjective lists already
conjured and prepared for us to use in discussions should they arise.
I will note personally that this has been an incredible
decade for Star Wars fans like my son and me. There were five new films
(The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One, and
Solo), three animated series (The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star
Wars Resistance), and one live action series (The Mandalorian). Also,
let us not forget Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at the Disney parks. That is
more Star Wars content than in any other decade!
During these past ten years, my immediate family and I
have traveled extensively and enjoyed seeing new countries and learning about
them. We have experienced family joy at multiple high school and college
graduations, one law school graduation, one nursing school graduation, and two
nephews’ graduations from the FDNY academy. We have attended family weddings,
anniversaries, christenings, and birthday parties, and have had the joy of new
babies to celebrate.
Despite having to deal with the loss of loved ones, the
past decade has been a great journey. These moments don’t go away; they stay
with us long after the music stops playing and the lights go out. Memory is a
wonderful, beautiful, bittersweet thing – and for some people it is all they
have. So, the past can never be past because it is relived again and again until
we too pass away, but then we exist in our surviving loved ones’ memories, and
so it goes on and on.
So, let us embrace 2020, for it is brimming with hopeful possibilities.
2020 is here in a fresh diaper and chugging a cold bottle of milk. Before you know it, 2020 will be a toddler by the end of January and going away to college at the end of March. They grow up so fast, so enjoy it now.
Happy New Year! Happy New Decade too!!
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