Here’s to a Brand New Happy Year (Hopefully Happier Year

e are saying goodbye to the most difficult year in most of our lifetimes: 2020 came in like a lion and went out like a lion.

It started in January with wild fires raging throughout Australia, with estimates of 25 million acres burned and between 500 million and 1 billion animals killed. Also in January we lost basketball great Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others in a horrific helicopter accident.

And then in late February, the nation began hearing of a very serious and rapidly spreading virus. By mid-March, we were all very aware of the coronavirus pandemic with sickness, deaths, business shutdowns, international travel and cruise bans, and school closures crashing down upon us. Following the May 25 videotaped death of George Floyd, “Black Lives Matter” protests erupted throughout the nation (even closing the Coronado Bridge for a short time).

Throughout the year, a hotly contested presidential election vividly illustrated how deeply divided our country was – and is. As winter came upon us, COVID-19 cases mounted and a “surge upon a surge” of hospitalizations pushed ICUs beyond their capacities. Over the recent holiday season, we were urged to shun gatherings outside our family “pods,” and instead to party via video or telephone.

The number 2020 is sometimes associated with clear vision. With that in mind, are there insights, tips, coping skills or resolutions we can take into 2021 that we’ve gleaned from this past year? Here are some fellow Coronadans’ thoughts and/or resolutions for a happier new year ahead.

I just want to ramble for a minute because there’s so much going on with this isolation and I’ve been thinking about things that I think might help us all. And my big takeaway from the isolation and the quarantine and the being-at-home is that I personally went through this stage where I got really grubby. I stopped wearing makeup, stopped wearing a bra – all I did was just started hanging out. Then something started to shift and maybe it’s because I’m surrounded by all this beautiful jewelry and I heard this voice inside my head, that said “If not now, when?”

Yesterday, I had a customer say to me, “Oh my God, I love this necklace, but where will I ever wear it?” And I said to her, “If not now, when?”

Can’t we just dress up for ourselves? Can’t we just put on our Johnny Was outfit that has to be dry-cleaned and our pearls and make them our signature look?

Look, I’m not trying to sell you anything. That’s not what I’m about right now.

I’m just trying to encourage us all to get back on the saddle. Start feeling good about yourself. Put your perfume back on or put your perfume on. Just do something fun for yourself. Something fun that makes you feel pretty. That’s all I have to say: If not now, when?

So, I’m still drinking my protein drink, but I’m also Dolores Forsythe d’Forsythe Unique Jewelry from Around the World

dressing up. Hope you are too!

2020 has been incredibly unexpected but we must never lose our resolve to see life as a gift, regardless of how challenging the circumstances (and they have been challenging)! So many people to bless and thank, including our military families, our first responders, and our small business owners. They all raise us up. Cheers to a much better 2021!!! Sally Ann Zoll, Ed. D. Chief Executive Officer, United Through Reading

The year 2020 proved to me that it is possible, even after working 30+ years in the same family business, to reinvent yourself – and your business. At first, I stubbornly wanted to maintain “business-as-usual,” resigned to the fact that Scottish Treasures would be forced to temporarily close and I’d be facing several pajama days at home. But my husband Mike would have none of that! He encouraged me to grab the bull by the horns, to venture forth where Scotsmen (make that Scotswomen) had feared to tread before!

And so, when the going got tough, I got going! Scottish Treasures began offering local delivery during total lockdown. I supervised the rebuilding of our entire website, and you can now find nearly all of our items online at celticcorner.net. We began hosting pop-up events for our customers up north, and making live videos that appeared on Facebook. These were all new ideas and projects I processed through over the last nine months as I tried to build our business success outside the normal brick and mortar.

As they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger! And so, our locally owned family business has survived 2020 and we are better positioned to thrive once this pandemic rides off into the sunset.

As we move into 2021, I’d like all Coronado businesses to give themselves credit for the extraordinary efforts each has made to keep their doors open. I believe our phenomenal efforts in 2020 will carry us through to brighter days ahead. Still, I think I’m entitled to at least one pajama day a month! Tricia Logan-Locke

Scottish Treasures Celtic Corner Floss and Travel!

Suzanne Popp, DDS Advanced Dentistry

Just keep loving your pets and let them love you back! There’s nothing better than unconditional love – it’s soothing to the soul!

But also remember to keep up with your pet’s grooming, including their toenails. I’m seeing a lot of ingrown toenails, where they are cutting into the skin. It only takes five or ten minutes for us to clip the nails – and it can be a walk-in or “curbside pickup.” Stacey Valenzuela Pollyanna’s Grooming

This has been a crazy year! My mantra that has gotten me through 2020 is:

Turn Panic into Prayer

Turn Fear into Faith

Turn Worry into Worship!

Pam Hammett Coronado Hardware

My New Year’s resolution is to be cognizant and appreciative of the positive habits and values that came out of 2020, like daily exercise and lots of family time, and continue practicing them going forward Dan Gensler The Gensler Group

I’m about as “Type A” a person as you’ll ever find. I love people. Seclusion? Quarantine? Isolation? No one would ever associate those words with me.

And yet, the seriousness of this virus is such that we all should be looking closer at ourselves, and asking the question. “Am I taking enough precautions?”

It’s not about me. It’s about the elderly folks living near and around me (I live at the Coronado Shores). All it would take is one contaminated elevator ride, one “Oh, I forgot my mask.”

I don’t think we’ve seen the last of this virus and its deadly effects. In fact, I don’t think we’re even at the mid-point of this crisis.

While it may still be too early to celebrate, at this moment in time, hope is the greatest word in the English language. And, it is my hope that everyone continues to wear their masks and avoid crowds.

We have to get through this virus and what will possibly be several false vaccine attempts. And yet, we can do this!

There will be a time to celebrate, but we’re a long way from that. Swallow your pride and wear your mask. The life you save may be your own.

I want to wish everyone on the lovely island of Coronado a very Happy New Year, and encourage you to embrace not just your loved ones, not just your neighbors, but embrace our future together.

We’ll get through this. We just need to be patient a little bit longer.

Now, where’s my surfboard? Joe Ditler Writer/Historian

2020 has definitely been a challenging year, but from challenging situations, we grow...

Being out in nature, where all grows, has helped me a lot this past year. Enjoying the sunshine, the trees, birds, flowers, rain and even the weeds and dried trees.

Along with continuing to be grateful for nature and as many little things as possible on a daily basis, I will take “Meditation” with me into 2021…. To continue the growing! Marilyn Klisser Salon on First