2021

I’m not the only one who can say that 2021 was my worst year ever. When 2020 ended, we were relieved, but we had no idea what 2021 had in store.

It’s been hard for me on a personal level. I’ve experienced more loss this past year than in all the other years of my life combined. There have been untold stresses as well.

That doesn’t mean it’s been all bad. There have been some great moments. I got to be at the Magic Kingdom exactly 50 years after it opened. I rode Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure countless times. I’ve dined at both Space 220 Restaurant and Steakhouse 71, and they are probably now my two favorite full service restaurants at Walt Disney World.

My highlight of 2021 (besides getting our silly little chihuahua mix that we named Yoda) was the trip that my daughter and I took to California. While I write about Disney for a living, this trip was a vacation. It took us forever to get there, it was almost a year and a half after our original date, but it was worth the wait.

I’d like to thank everyone here at Disney Over 50. I had hoped to hit 10,000 likes on Facebook by the end of 2021, but the last time I checked I was about 500 short. That’s okay. It’s a milestone that I will reach eventually. You guys have stuck with me, even when my personal life didn’t allow me to update things as often as I had in the past. I appreciate the support.

I am stepping cautiously into 2022. My family and I have a cruise booked in a little over two weeks. We picked the date because we wanted to start the New Year off right, but now I’m not sure if it’s going to happen. If it does, expect pictures!

One thing that I’ve learned as I’ve grown older is that there are many things that we don’t have control over. I can’t make Covid go away, I can’t control the weather, I can’t bring back the people that I’ve lost. What I do have control over is how I react. It costs me nothing to be nice to people, even if they’re nasty to me. I don’t know what they’re going through.

2021 brought a lot of tears, but there were also plenty of smiles. I expect that 2022 will be similar. Here’s hoping that 2022 will bring more smiles than tears for all of us.

Happy New Year!