XXIV: 20 Things that brought me joy in 2020
Ah 2020. At this point it feels cliche to observe that the past year has been challenging for everyone — but still, it has. For me the year began with social distancing — as necessitated by the early days of stem cell transplant recovery — only to see the world join in on the trend right as I was being released from my 100 day post transplant quarantine.
If my entire experience with cancer has taught me one thing, it’s that life can’t be taken for granted. Thus whatever challenges we encounter, it’s still important to find and appreciate the things that bring us joy each day we are on this planet. With that in mind, here are 20 things that brought me joy in 2020.
[Note: The following are not in order. I also am omitting any political developments, despite that some might have brought me joy, because in my opinion we all need a long break from politics for our collective mental health]
1. Clean PET Scans
I had three PET scans in 2020. The most recent was earlier this month. Every one showed no evidence of recurrent lymphoma. I don’t need to explain why this brings me joy.
2. Getting Married!
I got engaged in January 2019. In between then and the day my now wife Brooke and I said “I do” we faced my diagnosis of recurrent lymphoma, salvage chemo, stem cell transplant, recovery from transplant, and a global pandemic limiting social gatherings. Despite all those challenges we were able to exchange vows this past October in a significantly downsized but nonetheless joyous and beautiful ceremony.
Two months later the result is zero COVID cases and one happy couple.
3. Brooke
We’re now officially married, but the truth is even before sealing the deal we’d faced more trials and tribulations than many couples face in their first decade of being married. Her support, encouragement, and willingness to listen as I talked out my stresses/anxieties helped get me through the past year. We’ve managed to find joy being quarantined together whether binging TV shows, beating Super Mario Odyssey in co-op mode, or going on walks/hikes around our neighborhood.
4. Family
If I started listing individual things in this category it would merit a post unto itself. Suffice to say incredible support from both my family and Brooke’s family helped us get through this year. We relished every virtual and (cautious) in person interaction with all of our family members that much more this year.
5. Roxanne, May she rest in peace
I said pretty much everything there was to say about our sweet feline housemate in my post back in July, after she passed away. The short of it is Roxanne kept me company and kept me sane in the first half of 2020 when I was stuck working from home more often than not.
6. Our New Cat, Juno
After Roxanne passed we made it a month before inevitably taking a trip to the Charlottesville SPCA shelter. Due to COVID protocols limiting our ability to meet cats, we brought Juno home on a foster trial. It probably goes without saying we were a #FosterFail and were filling out adoption papers less than two weeks later. She’s a different, more energetic and mischievous cat than Roxanne — she delights in batting toy mice around the apartment and occasionally trying to free solo our doorways. But she is just as full of sweetness and affection.
7. Radiology
After my three month leave for stem cell transplant I was itching to get back to work — both for a sense of normalcy and a way to stimulate my mind. I was already happy to have chosen Radiology as a specialty coming out of medical school, but the ability to work remotely allowed me to return to my job/training much sooner than other medical specialties. After the initial month of the pandemic, it also afforded me the ability to work somewhere other than in my apartment, which while perhaps a bit more risky in terms of COVID exposure, was definitely a benefit to my mental health.
8. Finishing Medical Training and Getting a Job
After extending my fellowship training 6 months to make up for time lost for treatment, I will officially finish medical training at the end of the month. I accepted a position as an assistant professor in musculoskeletal radiology at UNC Health and will be moving to Chapel Hill and starting my new job in January.
9. Hiking
I have made it clear in previous posts how therapeutic exploring the outdoors has been for me. As I regained my strength this past year I also was able to resume one of my favorite activities, culminating in a week of beautiful hikes in Sedona during our honeymoon — including powering up the relentless ascent of Bear Mountain.
10. Running
My first run of 2020 was a 2 mile jog at 11 minute/mile pace. These days I’m back to being able to run a 5k at under 8 min/mile pace. I also am fortunate to have so many great running spots here in Charlottesville including the Saunders-Monticello trail, the Rivanna Trail, and Ridge Road. Last month I finally built up to running the entire distance of the latter —all 8 miles and 757 feet of elevation.
11. The Mandalorian
Disney Plus’s first foray into live action television debuted the day of my Stem Cell transplant. The first season was a spark of hope for exciting storytelling in the Star Wars universe juxtaposed against the disappointment of Rise of Skywalker. However, in its second season the series elevated to another level, managing to incorporate well known characters such as Bo-Katan, Ahsoka Tano, Boba Fett and [redacted] while never straying too far from the central focus of Mando and Baby Yoda/Grogu. I could write a lot more about The Mandalorian — and perhaps I will elsewhere — but suffice to say it brought me enough joy to wake up at 5:30 on Friday mornings for two months in order to make sure I watched before being spoiled.
12. Takeout Food
I’d imagine most people would put this on their 2020 lists were they forced to undertake this same exercise. I want to shout out Chimm and Roots in particular as two of our go-to options here in Charlottesville.
13. The Last Dance
Now that most sports are back, it’s easy to forget how barren things felt in April after everything was cancelled and no live sports were on TV. ESPN’s fantastic multi-part documentary on Michael Jordan and the 90’s Bulls not only helped remind people why Air Jordan still has a compelling case for greatest of all time, but also gave sports fans something to look forward to during the doldrums of the first few months of the pandemic.
14. UNC Football
As the year wore on sports slowly came back. The NBA’s bubble playoffs were both fantastically executed and quite entertaining, but I was incredibly thankful to be able to enjoy college football and root on my Tar Heels this past fall. The season had its ups and downs, but was ultimately an unquestionable success that culminated in the program’s first New Years Six Bowl bid.
15. Improving my Cooking Skills
Make no mistake, I’m still no savant in the kitchen. But quarantine did force me to expand my culinary arsenal.
16. Palm Springs on Hulu
Granted I didn’t see a lot of movies this year, but this one was just a wonderfully funny and entertaining adventure. I won’t spoil any of it, but I highly suggest you check it out if you haven’t.
17. Puzzles
At this point, the great puzzling craze of the early phase of the pandemic feels like ancient history. Still Brooke and I managed to knock out two 1000 piece puzzles — one of vintage national park posters and the other a panoramic image of a UNC basketball game in the Dean Dome.
18. Books
I did a good bit of reading this past year. Highlights include Greg Iles’s Natchez Burning trilogy, re-reading Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicles (I have a bad habit of investing in fantasy series that seemed doomed to never be finished), and the most recent entry in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive, The Rhythm of War.
19. Local Coffee
Since I’ve spent a good bit of 2020 working from home, I’ve brewed quite a few pots of coffee and turned into a bit of a coffee snob. My favorite roasters here in Charlottesville are Mudhouse and Shenandoah Joe. Buying better tasting locally roasted coffee beans and supporting small businesses = win-win.
20. Vaccines
Over the past 6 months I’ve gotten all of my childhood vaccinations again, as stem cell transplant wiped out my previous immune memory. Combined with my annual flu vaccine, that adds up to 7 different vaccines (all of which required multiple doses) this year. I’m looking forward to making that number 8 in the near future when I receive my COVID vaccine.
