2021 Has Arrived!

Looking back, it’s clear that 2020 will be a year we will always remember. Some happy and some sad memories will linger. The world was at war with Covid. While it appeared to only affect our seniors at first, the second wave seemed to hurt so many people.

2020 started off great. I was closing transactions left and right. I was on track to break all of my career income records. My husband and I took a 2-week cruise vacation in March. The thought of being away from the office that long was terrifying, but I figured that I could always work from the boat if I had to. Of course, it turned out that working wasn’t going to be an issue.

We had debated about which cruise to take to the Panama Canal. Should we leave out of Florida and only go through one set of locks or leave out of a different location, which would allow us to go through the entire set of locks? Ultimately, we booked our cruise with Holland America. Our ship and the Zaandam both left their ports 24 hours apart. On the Zaandam, 4 people died of Covid and 138 people contracted the virus. Since it was also a ship owned by Holland America, we were given briefings daily. We were on the lucky ship, where no one had the disease, and we were dropped off in Florida as if everything in the world was right. It was a strange trip to say the least. The international news had us convinced that there was no food or toilet paper available in Metro Detroit, so you can imagine our surprise when we stopped at Nino Salvaggio’s on the drive home to find all of the shelves stocked with food.

Business simply stopped for me. During the first few months, I was featured on numerous virtual talks about working with one’s landlord during this period. I called close to 600 people to see how they were doing and offer any help I could give. It was as if we were all frozen in time and couldn’t figure out how to move forward. Being the optimist I am, I was sure we would be through this in 90 days or less, but here we are in 2021, and our county’s virus numbers continue to grow.

There were many lighthearted moments during the year too. I was able to spend more time with my husband, as we were both at home. We entertained friends and family on our deck, as we watched the sunset on the lake. We went on a beautiful 20-mile bike ride under the tunnel of trees in October. I swam with a manatee in Florida. We went white water rafting in Costa Rica and sailed in and out of the locks in the Panama Canal. Last but not least, I was recognized by City of Troy as A Woman of Distinction. I hope you and your family made it safely through 2020 and that your 2021 is filled with hope and good health.