The Real Holiday Letter

Serena Ward
December 29, 2020 | 2 min read

Dear Friends and Family,

2020 has definitely been an eventful year for the Ward family (and every other person on the planet as well).

Here are some of our illustrious highlights:

  • All that we had to say good-bye to this year: our loyal mini-van, two chickens, a washing machine, a stove, a freezer, a bathroom faucet, a chicken coop, the kitchen sink, and a laptop. Let’s hope that this coming year comes with fewer farewells.
  • There was vomit. There’s always vomit. The dog made an exceptional shot right down the heating vent. The kids, as usual, are still working on their aim. We did have one holiday without vomit. It was President’s Day, but I’m totally taking it as a win!
  • With everything happening virtually in my house, we’ve learned lots of skills around technology. One of the most important skills acquired is being able to dodge Zoom/Google Classroom cameras prior to showering. Also, we’ve learned to always assume the microphone is unmuted!
  • We’ve started about 20 different projects this year…and finished a few of them.
  • My kids are (currently) passing all of their classes and usually do their school work with minimal screaming involved.
  • My first-grader has learned to read and write this year which leads to some interesting submissions to the virtual classroom chat by her and her classmates. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say that first graders have an interesting sense of humor.
  • My seventh-grader has become an expert eye-roller (surpassing the required 10,000 hours of practice) and is currently tutoring her younger sister in this ancient art.
  • My nineteen-year-old learned so much in her first year of college followed by ample time at home to master some new video games.

So, there you have it. 2020 in the Ward household…oh…me? You want to know about me? Well, I guess I can share that I’m working on being more true to myself and more truthful with the world. And I launched a podcast! You can check it out at NoNeedToExplainPodcast.com.

And in all seriousness, we are grateful for another year spent together as a family dealing with whatever comes our way. We are (mostly) happy and (mostly) healthy and hope that you are too.