Good In The Bad
Let’s be honest, this year has fucking sucked. But lately, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’ve been trying to focus on the good things in every situation. So yeah, 2020 has definitely been insane, to put it lightly, but there have been so many good things to come out of it.
Ok, first up- obviously my second home, The West Side Tennis Club. Although all of us don’t see eye to eye all the time, I love this place and all of my friends that I’ve met because of it. And not seeing eye to eye actually makes it feel more like family. Just a bunch of different characters who share a love for tennis in some capacity. The club was closed at first, like most places, but thank the good lord that it opened up again in May. Despite not being able to host concerts, we all really used this place as an outlet but also as like a safe space. I was and still am super cautious when going out and I really only eat at home or at the club. They’ve really done a good job at making us feel safe and I am extremely grateful that I was able to play tennis like normal all summer and now paddle in the winter.
Next up are two people that I’ve gotten extremely close with this year and that’s James & Ivona. We have a group text and we literally chat in there every day. We all have very different lives, jobs, families and do our own thing but they are always checking in and sending silly things in that group. In a time where we can’t really be in groups of people, it’s been really nice to grow closer to them and their partners during this time. They’re actually the ones that encouraged me to get out of my apartment in April and get some fresh air after 61 days indoors!
OK, what else? Well in October we raised nearly $30k for the American Cancer Society!!! I can’t believe that that was only last month. It was probably the highlight of my year. Just seeing everyone come together and donate to this cause was truly special. It’s sad that so many of us have this in common but I’m glad that everyone felt connected to the cause and motivated to donate to it. You’ve probably already heard/read the stories but the original goal was $5k and we closed the event out at just under $30k! This was probably one of the most rewarding days of my entire life. I cannot tell you special it was to have all my friends support this cause with me. We drank lots of tequila to celebrate. Thank you again to all of the donors.
Speaking of cancer, my sweet mom hit her 1 year anniversary of being cancer free. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2019 in what is possibly the worst month of my life. She went through 2 lumpectomies and then a shit ton of radiation treatments and never complained once. She honestly looked like the picture of health and was always smiling! I cannot even put into words what it was like to find out about her diagnosis and then waiting for the surgery to end. I’ve watched one too many episodes of Grey’s Anatomy so I was worried something crazy would happen in the operating room. I even got sick right after trying to eat breakfast while she was in surgery. Luckily, they caught it early and her doctors were great. Fuck cancer, let’s hope that’s the end of cancer in our family.
How about Zoom? Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of video conferencing work calls but what a tool for the work environment during this crazy year. Despite being in tech, I’m not like a Zoom expert and the most important time I had to be on Zoom was when I was competing in the Tableau competition at work. I always gave my boss shit and told him that I was so good at Tableau. I mean I was good but I was half kidding and when I entered the competition I had no expectations whatsoever. Especially because it was my best friend’s birthday and we were in the Hamptons the entire time the competition was going on. I wasn’t feeling super motivated or inspired by the data set and I really had no vision for what I wanted to do. I almost didn’t enter because on the day it was supposed to be submitted, we went on a freaking boat ride. It was super fun - probably my favorite day of the summer tbh, but when we got back to the airbnb I was like I have to submit SOMETHING. ANYTHING. Next thing you know I had an email in my inbox the next day, saying that I was a finalist and had to present the dashboard a few days later. So I get on this Zoom meeting, brushed my hair for the first time in months (lol jk… kinda) after practicing my presentation over and over and over in the mirror. By some miracle of god I won the whole thing and that was so surreal. Despite winning, I learned that there was a lot more that I needed to learn in order to consider myself being truly an export so it was a really nice experience.
This year has been crazy and I never would have expected it to turn out the way that it did. I started the year crying in the Sydney, Australia airport. Started therapy & antidepressants, played paddle nationals, started working from home full time, lost a bunch of weight, gained it all back, road tripped across half the country with my best friend, went to the Hamptons, went to Utah, got a concussion, found out I had a brain tumor, learned tiktok dances, threw a birthday party for my cat, and so much more. I’d love if things went according to plan, but sometimes it’s much more fun and rewarding to figure things out as they come. Things may seem like they suck but there is always a silver lining. Find good in the bad, it’s always there.
