2020 Randomness
This year started off crazy.
My husband and I ended our 2019 at our usual debauchery-filled New Years Eve party that we attend every year. Ya know, it's like the typical drugs, sex, alcohol shindig that makes your mornings feel like a nightmare from hell. Well, this Eve of New felt different from the previous 30 I've experience on this earth. On January 1st 2020, I felt invigorated. Like I could finally accomplish at least one of my New Years resolutions for once. Some of my resolutions were:
Eat Better
Start a business
Travel
Lose 20 pounds
Go to Disneyland
And by January 6th, I had already committed to sticking to my travel resolution with an on the fly suggestion from Vivian, that she for sure thought I would have said "no" to. She asked if we should go surprise Charla in North Carolina, and I said "Hell ya!". A little backstory:.. We are all originally from California, we met in grad school and became great friends. We became so close that we were in each others weddings, (except for Charla's because we got married before we even met) but, we've went on girls trips together, out to brunches, and we make time for our friendship to talk almost every day. Our last girls trip last year to Tulum and Cancun, Charla couldn't make it because her family had recently moved to N.C. and she had no one she could trust to watch her two baby boys while she was away and her hubby was at work. (They literally oved to NC only 4 months before the trip). So Vivian and I thought it would be a good idea to surprise Charla and have a girls weekend! We did just that. I flew out January 16th and scheduled my return flight on Martin Luther King Jr. day.
*Natural history museum in Raleigh, NC
Now that I think about it, lol Vivian and I should of offered to watch the boys so Charla and her hubby could have had a date night. hindsight...
When I returned home the week of the 20th, I had to settle back into going to work. Oh yea, after graduate school, I got into the field of Public Service which means = I work for a Non-profit and my take home pay is measly... It's far from being the best job but it allows me the opportunity to do things I enjoy while simultaneously paying off my student loan debt. I'm on the PSLF program...Anywho, I transitioned back work rather easily.
But
the weekend came, and on January 26th, the onset of the worst shit this year could bring us was about to transpire. Kobe MF Bryant died, he died!!! He died with his baby girl Gianna, he died with his daughters teammates and their parents. Ugh that shit was the worst shit ever. It's still hard to write about. I'll never forget that day, my family and I were finishing our morning walk around the neighborhood and as soon as we were approaching the Homefront. I look on my phone and see a TMZ article that says: Kobe Bryant's Helicopter Crashes, Daughters Feared To Be Onboard. In that moment, my heart dropped to my stomach. I couldn't understand how my family was able to enjoy this beautiful Sunday morning and Vanessa Bryant had just lost everyone she loved...Of course, after hours of misinformation was finally corrected, the world was notified of who actually perished that fateful day. Damn that day sucked!!
But as the saying says: life goes on😢😢😢....
February came and we celebrated my hubby's birthday and Valentines day all in one this year. (Last year I surprised him with a Laser Tag party with Texas, Sherelle, Khadia, Anthony, Greg, Christina and James). This year was different, I snuck out of work and kept Amara home from school.. Oh yea, I have a daughter now👧 ..and we went to Pacific Catch. The food was okay, but we enjoyed spending time together more importantly. Unbeknownst to me, I bought him an ice cream cake that he hated but he was a good sport nonetheless.
Because it is now February and the world is still struggling with the grief of the passing of Kobe Bryant. The Laker family, Staple Center, Ticketmaster and Vanessa organized a memorial for the public that was to be held on February 24th in Los Angeles at The Staples Center. Similar to what was held for Nipsey Hussle, a California rapper who was slain in front of his clothing store a year prior; Ticketmaster offered a virtual raffle for those wanting to attend the memorial. The difference was that the Bryant memorial charged a fee, $120 for the upper deck or $240 for the lower deck, with a minimum purchase of 2 tickets required. All proceeds of the memorial went to the Mamba Foundation that support women's sports. I'm writing this to say that, out of the 80,000 who signed up for the raffle, I was chosen as 1 of the 20,000 who were granted a chance to purchase tickets.
At this time, my credit card was maxed because I spent so much on my NC trip the month prior but I wasn't missing this memorial for nothing! I bought two $120 tickets for my hubby and I and booked rooms at The W hotel in downtown Los Angeles and requested the time off from work. A lot of tears were shed in that memorial, every person around me was crying, and I'm not exaggerating, literally EVERY SINGLE PERSON had shed a tear during some point. I cried when Beyonce came out, I was not expecting that, Alicia Keys maybe but not BEYONCE! Beyonce is my female equivalent to Kobe Bryant, so it was a lot of emotions wrapped up in that experience. The next time I balled my eyes out was when Vanessa began to speak about her: Baby Girl😢😖😢
That was a total fucking gut punch.
*Image courtesy of etonline.com
My husband and many other men around me began to cry when they saw Michael Jordan approach the stage.
In the Staples Center, my visit btw, it was really eye opening to that fact that we humans, despite our outward appearances, wealth, status, were all humbled during this time of tragedy. Which leads me to my next 2020 surprise that would transpire only 2 weeks after the memorial....
The Coronavirus Outbreak.
The beginning of March, the United States started getting reports out of China that a deadly virus had spread throughout Wuhan, China. I'm not too sure if people began dying at that point but it wasn't something that the US wasn't really concerned about because we thought it was just happening in China, heck, Trump even called it a Hoax. But boy were we wrong. The Coronavirus made its way to the United States and the first reported case was in my city. Living in San Jose aka Silicon Valley, there are a lot of K1-Visa recipients because admittedly they are the best at what they do. There were cases of Xenophobia; at one point there was reports that black people were immune. On March 13th, we found out that people were dying and everything was shutdown at that point. By March 16th, my in office position switched to remote only. Schools were immediately shutdown and life was at a standstill. Trump decided to close the borders and stop all travel from China, which resulted in the stock market tanking hard and fast! I jumped in and bought a few shares of Tesla, but because I was so broke from the months prior trips, I couldn't purchase as much as I wanted, but I'm glad I jumped in when I did.
**I also think back to out trip the Staples Center and how Coronavirus has been in the US presumably since January 2020 and we didn't catch it in a stadium of 20,000 people....
👉April came and Trump said that Coronavirus aka Covid-19 would be gone be Easter.....it's still here and New York City is the hardest hit at this point. We also saw the video of Ahmaud Marquez Arbery, who was slain in February 2020.
👉May came and George Floyd happened. We were also made aware of the case of Breonna Taylor that took place in March 2020. The Coronavirus hits hard in the Pacific Northwest and has claimed lives. Armed Michigan protesters enter state house to denounce the Stay-at-home order.
👉June came and Black Lives Matter protests are nationwide. Black businesses do extremely well during Juneteenth this year. States down south begin opening up despite rising cases of Coronavirus. We learn about Rayshard Brooks...
👉July came and protests had dwindled down, everywhere is except for Portland. The stock market is up. And Police who killed Breonna Taylor aren't charged. Coronavirus is as strong as ever.
👉August came California's yearly wildfire season starts. Biden announces Kamala Harris as his running mate. Coronavirus is still claiming lives but at a slower rate. My friends and I tinker with the idea of starting a business. I start to feel sick.
👉September Stock market begins to tank. Coronavirus is still here and the school year begins.
👉October is here, I receive a spinal MRI that comes back as clear but that doesn't ease my fear of possibly having MS. I have no desire to go to work. I have to continuously push myself out of bed to spend time with my daughter. My birthday is coming up on the 17th and I have no desire to do much of anything. Hubby and I are planning for baby #2 but idk, this is all two much. Oh, and Trump tests positive for the Coronavirus.
Oh a myriad of other things happened during 2020, both negative and positive, I will list some below:
*Only 1 police officer was charged in the killing of Breonna Taylor.
*My cousin Mariah got married in September.
*Chadwick Boseman aka Black Panther lost his battle to Colon cancer.
>*My grandmothers baby sister died from Coronavirus.
*Vivian had her first baby, his name is Justice.
*The Lakers are in the Playoffs, up 2 to 1 at this moment against the Miami Heat.
*I bought my first pair of Kobes, the EYBL prontos.
*My mom moved into her new home.
*I started a solo business (no merchandise yet) and have partnered with my friends on a shea butter business that will release by Black Friday this year.
*Jonathan has began playing videogames and doing art again.
*Amara continues to be the light of my life.
The year isn't over and I'm nervous for what else it has to bring
November 3rd will either make us or break us...Until then✌
Feeling generous, donate to my venmo/paypal: derrhea@gmail.com
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