George Ferguson Column: I won't forget the past, but, we all deserve a brighter future

When the clock strikes midnight tonight, and 2020 ends, there will certainly be cause for celebration. No question, we’re all looking forward to this year being over.

And not only are we all looking forward to 2020 being over with, we’re certainly looking forward to better days, a brighter future, a future without COVID-19 being front and center, a future without civil discourse, a new future with less anger, less anxiety. Yes, we all hope better days are ahead.

In trying to be an optimist, I do believe those better days are coming. I have a bucket list of things I want to do when the worst year of our lives is in our rearview mirror. Like so many of you, I have big plans, and I can’t wait to act on them. And as dark as things have been this past year, I’m finally letting myself see the light at the end of the tunnel, I’m allowing myself to look forward to better days.

Still, I don’t think it will do me any good if I don’t keep what’s happened over the last 365 days inside me. Like other monumental and life-changing times in my 45 years on earth, I won’t soon forget 2020, no matter how badly I want to. I must not only remember the past, but also learn from it.

For one, like whenever we reflect on our past, we must remember those we lost. And we all lost in 2020. We lost loved ones, to COVID and otherwise, we lost friends, family, acquaintances, we lost heroes and idols, and we shouldn’t forget. We should always honor those that we lost.

We, as a society have lost, too. This pandemic has been as disruptive as anything I’ve seen, and I’ve felt first-hand that disruption.

For me, it began right at the beginning. Spring sports were canceled. It is still a hurt, and a disappointment I haven’t gotten over. It is something I won’t forget.

And when we talk about canceled, our youth has suffered so much. The Class of 2020 lost their last three months of high school, the college Class of 2020 finished their hard-earned degrees on computer screens and Zoom calls instead of in musty-smelling classrooms on campuses across America.

It didn’t stop there either. The youth of America, the youth of the world, have continued to endure a tumultuous time where school and education has been interrupted, where sports, extra curricular activities, socialization and plain old friendships have been, at times, cut off.

Again, as a coach, and as someone who covers sports for a living, I have seen what this last year has been like for our young people, and it’s been tough. But I can also tell you, from those same experiences, we should be extremely proud of our youth, because they have handled these times with strength, courage and conviction. I too have witnessed that first-hand over the last year, and it makes me proud.

Of course, I could go on forever about what has been lost in 2020. Businesses, homes, jobs, education, lives, it’s seemed like an endless time of suffering. So many people have suffered, in so many ways, from the virus itself, and the side effects of the pandemic. Yes, it’s been devastating, and it would take me two or three columns to lay it all out there.

So that is why we, as a society, we as human beings are no doubt ready to say Happy New Year tonight. Of course, our problems won’t be gone Friday morning, far from it, but 2020 will be gone and for now that’s enough.

Certainly, 2020 seems beyond cursed. Certainly, 2020 seems like a nightmare we can’t wake up from. Most certainly, at times, 2020 has felt like the movie “Groundhog Day.” There’s just no escaping it. And that’s why, we’re all ready to put it behind us.

That said, 2021 has to be better. It just has to be. Our kids deserve better, everyone deserves better. And that’s my wish, I just wish for better days. I wish for everyone to be able to feel normal, no matter what their normal is. Yours may be different than mine, but I don’t care. I don’t care about differences of opinion or life philosophy, I wish nothing but the best for each and every one of my fellow humans in 2021.

So that’s that. Simply put, tonight, 2020 is over with. Tonight, we move on. Tonight, we move forward, tonight we march ahead to better days. Tonight, we start trucking toward a brighter future. I know I am looking forward to a brighter future, but at the same time, I will never forget what we’ve just endured. I will always try to remember and do right by those we lost, and never forget the sacrifices and heroics by so many people this last year. To health care and front line workers, to first responders, to teachers and educators, to everyone who has put themselves on the line to help get us through this last year, thank you, and just because I’m looking forward to 2021, doesn’t mean I’ll ever forget all of you, or forget all those and all we lost in 2020. I won’t ever allow to forget.

At the same time, though, I will open my eyes to a brighter tomorrow, and that’s why, more than ever before, it makes me happy to wish each and every one of you a Happy New Year.