It was January 2020; we were celebrating a new year, the holidays were over and everyone was looking forward to chilling out.  Kind of out of the blue, two new types of viruses began to pop up on everyone's radar; Covid 19 and CoronaVirus.  Nobody had ever heard of the illnesses before but all of a sudden they were on the tip of everyone's tongue, all over the news and all anyone could talk about.  No one knew how long this was going to last or if it was a passing illness, like seasonal flu.  Fast forward into February 2020 and life as we knew it was no longer a reality and the country was in a full blown pandemic. The economy began to shut down, and by mid March, everyone started packing up the office and working from home.   All buildings, shops, restaurants, schools and malls were closed and all of a sudden, everyone was sent home.  No one dared to go out and everyone was turning into crazy germaphobes, but, there was a silver lining.  As for me, my parents were afraid to let me go inside my friends houses, or really within 25 feet of them, so, when online classes were finished by 11:30am, my 2 friends and I would be out the door, meet up and literally bike for miles and miles.  Biking is what kept us in shape, what kept us going and took us to towns we had never been to before. It's crazy because even though me and my friends always biked, biking began to sweep the nation. Everyone was buying bikes, upgrading equipment or fixing their bikes, all because there was nothing else to do except go crazy sitting around. Everyday, our local bike shop had a huge line of folks outside waiting to look at bikes, or fix their bikes because there was literally nothing else to really do.  Since all gyms were closed, biking or any type of outside activity was really the only source of exercise. 

While folks were home with time on their hands, it appeared that they were paying extra attention to politics. This new interest was good because our eyes were being opened and injustices were being exposed.  Naturally though, people don't always agree, they can be mean and unlike views are not always kind in a world that was all of a sudden so unknown, this was the bad part.  Folks started looking at life through global riots, hate groups, and politics themselves were instantly thought of as a negative thing, it was like the country was just falling apart right in front of our eyes.  Everyday I would come home and see my Dad watching the news about how this person was racially accused, how this person was killed, how terrible riots were destroying cities, it was awful and sad to watch this. What was happening to our country?  Would another Civil War begin? So many sensitive questions facing the United States and our lives.  Our eyes were open for sure though.  

Although most folks in Wyckoff were not subject to riots or physical harm, aside from getting Covid, we were all emotionally affected by what was happening around the country.  It seemed as if 2020 was a brand new decade and the beginning of all great things, but then all of a sudden it turned into this angry nation, it was rough. However, towards the end of 2020, things started to brighten. A vaccine for the COVID - 19 was approved and beginning to be distributed, what a miracle!  Sports and gatherings that people enjoyed before the pandemic started to return.  2020 was the year of “firsts” and looking at life very differently. Bad because of the loss of so many lives but really good because we became a changed nation.