CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Perhaps you're safe with your loved ones. Or perhaps, you're missing them dearly as you're separated on a holiday when you'd usually be together. Regardless of the dark times, 2020 has shown, we have so much to be thankful for.
2020 has been a lot to handle for so many in the Carolinas. From a pandemic hitting every community, to an election that played out in every living room.
Floods that ravaged homes, unemployment has left food off the table for thousands of families.
It's a tough reality: so many of our neighbors are hurting.
Yet, as we reflect on this Thanksgiving holiday, there's still so much to be thankful for.
Like the frontline heroes who continue to risk their own health, in hopes of saving others.
And when they can't save a patient struggling to breathe after being infected with COVID-19, they're still there to make sure nobody dies alone, holding a patient's hand while talking to them.
Thank you will never be enough to show our gratitude.
We give thanks to those whose work often goes unnoticed.
From the staff who keep our hospitals and schools clean, to the gas station clerks who offer a smile and way for us to get around, and workers who keep our shelves stocked.
We're grateful for the volunteers who see a need and drop everything to make sure no one goes hungry.
Many have turned out to hand boxes of food to those who desperately need it, and others have donated food and money to organizations working hard as the solution.
2020 has certainly shown us a new appreciation for teachers, too.
They've had to learn how to take their classroom into their living room and project it into 20 or 30 different living rooms at a time.
They've had to grasp the attention spans of students to a screen and teach them the things they need to know to advance to the next grade.
They've had to risk their health when going back into the classroom, and have had to juggle the back and forth between the school and work-from-home.
We thank our local businesses who have pivoted time and time again, to stay alive and to continue serving our favorite foods and items.
We are gracious to those businesses who helped solve shortages of hand sanitizers when they saw the problem arising.
And can we get a round of applause for technology? It's brought us together when we often feel depressingly apart.
There are so many people, and organizations, and strangers to be thankful for.
So, as we round out 2020, let's take with us the main lesson we've learned this year: that perhaps, it's not about what 2021 will bring. Instead, it's about what we already have.