Dear 2022

Dear 2022,

I know we are about to begin dating, but I need to be open with you.  I'm just getting over a long-term relationship that has not always been positive.  2021 started hopeful, of course.  When 2021 and I first met we were hearing about vaccines and exiting the pandemic, but it quickly turned dark.  So many words have now become part of our daily news feeds; insurrection, variant, breakthrough cases..., and I am tired.  My colleagues are tired.  Our students are tired.  Our families are tired.  The world is tired. 

Still, I am hopeful.  Anytime I begin a new relationship I try to remain positive.  I try to set goals.  I try to listen and remain excited, and I will try.  I promise.

I will try to lose that 10 pounds that I gained in the last year.  Yes, I will clean out my workroom and closet.  Yes, I will practice my guitar more.  Yes, I will reach out in love to those extended family members and friends whom I never seem to see.  Yes, I will catch-up and read the books that are stacked up by my bedside.  Yes, I will try to be more grateful because even 2021 had its blessings.

Overall, my family is healthy.  Our daughters are doing well in college, and my wife and I have amazing jobs we love.  I, especially, am able to work in an environment that is challenging but supportive, understanding and loving, fast-paced and filled with joy.  My staff, students, and their families are an inspiration for me each day, and I hope that at some point our students' understand what we accomplished and navigated through in 2021 was nothing short of miraculous.  2021 was "normal" for our youngest students, and I am hopeful for you, 2022, to be more gracious and easy-going.  Everyone needs to breathe and to take a breath, and we are depending on you.  We are depending on each other.

I have always tried to live by an adaptation of a famous prayer from the 13th century.  Your older sisters and brothers probably remember it.

Make me an instrument of peace.
Where there is hatred, I want to sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
I seek not as much to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
I believe it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

Our school created a special mural in our front lobby. All students were able to engage with it, and I hope it stays up for our first few dates!

And so, 2022!  Here's to what I know will be a special relationship.  Yes, we will get to know each other.  Let's make this the best relationship for all time!

Sincerely,

David Ascher