Faces of 2020

What good could possibly come from 2020, the year of the pandemic? Many have experienced heart-breaking losses whether it’s jobs, homes or loved ones. By comparison, our family’s losses were primarily disappointments this year—a cancelled graduation and time apart from each other. Our in-person visits have been replaced with Facetime or Zoom, which are OK but not even close to the real thing. But I am a glass-half-full person, so even in 2020 I look for the good.

High on my list is that our family is healthy. Our son-in-law has recovered from COVID, and to date no one else in the family has contracted it. My husband and I are ready to roll up our sleeves for the vaccine, which our daughter will receive today because she is a health-care worker. Because of the dedication of countless scientists whose faces are unknown to me, the development of a vaccine will protect those I love, whose faces I have posted below. I salute everyone who made this medical miracle a reality.

Top center: With my husband, sister and brother-in-law; Bottom left: Our daughter and family; Bottom right: Our son and family

In the realm of personal goals, the year began with the publication of Marcello’s Promise, and the year ended–as of this week–with the paperback and eBook versions available online. This has led to in-person and virtual meetings with readers and fellow writers and the friendships that followed.

Faces from The Green Door Bookstore and Gift Shoppe, Overland Park, KS December 2019.

My first book club meeting came in February with the Real Housewives of Waukee, Iowa, where I made an exciting discovery: the unexpected delight as an author of meeting and engaging with readers. Not only did we discuss Marcello’s story, but theirs as well, which were very personal and heartwarming. One woman recounted her memory as a two-year old of being adopted by her forever family, like Sophia in Marcello’s Promise. That’s the thing about family—we all have one and we all have a story to share.

From April into autumn, while my husband and I sheltered-in-place at our lake house in Indiana, I was introduced to Zoom. Just think—at the start of this year, few of us had ever heard of Zoom and now it’s part of our everyday lexicon. And this is where the nasty pandemic of 2020 did me a small favor: I met twenty-five women in two different book clubs through Zoom meetings in Worcester, MA, and Portland, ME. Many of them had similar family immigration stories like the Corsis. Some ancestors were Italian, one was Greek; some worked in factories, others in shops. By the end of the Zoom calls, these ladies felt like old friends. I could crash their book club meeting any time and feel right at home! If we hadn’t gotten so lost in our Zoom discussion, I would have taken a screen shot of both groups to add to the faces of 2020.

Our book club at Cordy Sweetwater Lake in Indiana met monthly at the pavilion on the beach so we enjoyed in-person meetings all summer. It made life seem almost normal, and I loved that. An author could not ask for more supportive readers or greater friends.

As the year comes to a close and we look to a brighter tomorrow, may I offer you all the best the New Year has to offer. For our family, that comes through the hope of Bethlehem in the birth of Jesus, through the best and worst of our circumstances, our constant through all time.

Christina Rosetti wrote a lovely poem “Love Came Down at Christmas” that is beautifully set to music.

Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and angels gave the sign.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!