The year 2020 has taken a lot from us: human life, steady income, jobs, consistency, motivation, safety, and the normalcy of our every day lives. To say that it has been hard is the biggest understatement. I, for one, can’t wait to turn the calendar and move into 2021.

With the promise of a vaccine (for everyone) on the horizon, I am hopeful, collectively, we can return to our old normal. I remember liking it (and on some days hating it too, like people do), and want to get back to a life where I can, at least, pretend to have control. While I don’t like to make specific “New Year’s Resolutions” I am going to try something new this year and not give up things like sweets or alcohol (I think I still might need them in the first quarter of 2021) but rather do something. That thing is to write 52 letters (one a week in 2021).

Thanks to my dear friend, Lynne Pagano, whom I have known since we were both eighteen and freshman at Villanova, I was reminded of the beauty of the hand-written letter. She recently found a letter I had written to her the summer after our freshman year. It was as if we landed upon a time capsule. She read, I listened, and periodically had to stop her from reading because I was laughing too hard! I write like I talk and she reminded me of two things: it is fun to write letters and equally fun to receive them.

So, without any certainty that I even know 52 people, I embark on my challenge of writing a letter a week.

Check your mail!!