Insert “sigh” here. Now throw in a cliché — What a year this has been! Then, add a metaphor about it being a dumpster fire. Collect the 2020 bingo cards to see who won the year of insanity. Follow it up with the promise of a better tomorrow and poof, we are in 2021. Except, it just doesn’t work that way.
In 2016 Central Florida had a historically bad year. Watermark ran a cover with the headline, “Worst Year Ever.” Does that still hold true? It does. 2016 and 2020 were both tragic and comparing tragedy is futile. We could have run the same headline for this issue and both would still hold true. I usually enjoy the last issue of the year, taking a look back at our failures and successes and looking ahead at what’s to come.
This year is just different. The mark of the end of an era and movement into another feels lost at this point. When we wake up on Jan. 1, thousands more people will have died from coronavirus.
When we wake up on Jan. 2, thousands more people will have died from coronavirus; Jan. 3, 4, 5 and so on. It is an impossible time to live in, seeing the end in sight and still living in the reality.
COVID is by far the story of the year and this holiday season has me consumed with thoughts of those we have lost. I can’t imagine there is anyone who has not been affected by a COVID death. I am connected in some fashion with seven, a friend of a friend or someone I follow on social media. I wonder at what point Americans became desensitized to so much loss. Was it when the number got too big it stopped being human, or too large for our brains to fathom?
Each page of Watermark can hold up to 1200 words, without any graphics or advertisements. If you list the first and last name of every soul lost to COVID you could list roughly 600 people per page. That’s 28,800 names in this 48 page issue and it’s just enough to cover the deaths in Florida. It would take nearly six months to list the names of everyone in the United States who passed, and by then we would have so many more names to include.
Here’s another way I visualize the enormity of this daily calamity: I used to work in the Whale & Dolphin Stadium at Sea World in the mid-to-late 90s. That stadium sat 2,000 guests per show.
Imagine looking at that packed stadium and realizing 1,000 more people than you are seeing will die before the sun sets and rises again. It’s overwhelming.
Thank God there is hope (I know that sounds strange coming from me, but I promised God I would mention Her in at least one column a year if Joe Biden became president). There is hope that vaccines will swoop in to save us all and that life will return to normal. There is hope that the new administration will restore decency to our country and that life will return to normal.
I typically use this space to reflect on my previous year’s predictions and make some forecast for what the next year will bring. I only have one thing to say for 2021, and that is I hope life doesn’t return to normal. I hope we are better than we used to be.
I hope we find a better version of humanity. I hope we learn to reconnect on a personal level and not in a virtual cloud. I hope that we value those close to us and those in our community fighting the good fight. I hope we return to entertainment with a great appreciation for art and the people behind it. I hope the Black Lives Matter movement continues to teach us, continues to move all of us to that better version of humanity.
I want to acknowledge two shining stars of the year, two women for are true leaders in our community. Congratulations Blue Star and Pom Moongauklang, who reinvented themselves in the adversity of 2020. They are the beacon of hope I hope we see more of next year.
I also want to acknowledge some amazing people who passed this year: Sam Singhaus, Marcy Singhaus, Mike Ames, Charles Williams, Anthony Franco and Jason Halterman. You have had a profound affect on my life and the lives of those I care so deeply about.
In this issue of Watermark, our editorial team reflects on the top stories of the year and brings you the latest from today’s headliners. Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones. Wear your mask, social distance and let’s get to the other side of this.
We strive to bring you a variety of stories, your stories. I hope you enjoy this latest issue.
