This year will most likely go down in history as a blip in time. The year where time stopped, the year we wanna forget. Hundreds of annual events around the world will carry on for years to come but they’ll be missing one year in their timeline, 2020. Festivals, concerts and conventions will leave 2020 in the rearview pretending that their traditions never broke. 

The majority of my biological family lives out of state, so we have family reunions with my step family. The fact that our families aren’t blood related doesn’t make it any less special though. I’ve always felt so honored that such a large family was loving and caring enough to accept me. We have two family reunions every year, one is in June and the other is on Thanksgiving. However, this is the year where our tradition broke.

I’ve always looked forward to those gatherings. Most people don’t, but I have always enjoyed socializing. Sadly this is the year we can’t socialize like we used to. With the ongoing pandemic, it’s been impossible to see the ones we love face to face. I miss the stories and the smiles. The energy was so comforting. 

But the world has cancelled their events and we have cancelled our family reunions because we are trying to keep the ones we love safe. We have many members of our family who would be risking their lives by attending these events so it’s important to put their needs before ours. 

This isn’t an entirely bad thing. This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for breaking tradition for the sake of keeping my family safe and healthy.