Stories from a Lost Year

Life in 2020 has been dominated by big stories. The Covid-19 pandemic. Protests against multiple centuries of systemic racism and injustice. An impeachment. A presidential election. Murder hornets.

But beneath every one of these big stories is a long list of smaller personal ones. Everyone’s experience of 2020 has been different, and everyone’s story has something worth hearing. I went looking for those stories, in hopes of understanding the events of this year from the ground level.

What I found was remarkable. I talked to a woman who nursed an injured baby pig back to health. I talked to a sex worker who very quickly had to figure out how to make his business Covid-19-safe. I discussed opening up a marriage — at a time when nobody can see anybody in person — with someone who did just that. I talked to a woman who fell in love with her mailman, and a postal carrier who grew distressed at how little her rural community seemed to be taking Covid-19 seriously.

I’ll be sharing 14 of those stories over the next few weeks. I think they all underline the fact that no matter how dramatic or mundane your year was, it was that much more fascinating or difficult or compelling because of the times in which it took place.

This year is almost over, and another will follow. I’m so glad we all got through it together.

We’ve lost so much in 2020. But we’ve found some things, too.

“It’s easier to believe everything is holy lying under the stars with friends and a pig sleeping in the crook of your arm.”

“As soon as I started taking non-monogamy seriously, it was like any other coming out.”

“In America, we say everything we do is for our child, but we spend a lot of time working and accumulating money and stuff that we don’t need.”

“I can’t do any of my old standup comedy. And I don’t want to do it. I literally am starting over from scratch.”

“The first couple weeks, I sucked at life. I sucked at everything.”

“Online sex work has amplified the loneliness for some customers. I’m talking to them because they’re paying.”

“That day, for the first time, I saw myself. And I knew I was trans. Holy shit.”

“I asked him, ‘How’s everything going? How can we help?’ And I accidentally told him that I loved him.”

“There are certain ways — and maybe it’s not cool to say this — in which quarantine has been helpful.”

“I love just looking at his face when he sees there are other people in the world!”

“I haven’t contracted Covid yet. I’ve been lucky, because my bubble is probably huge.”

“It feels like I’ve never stopped playing Russian roulette because I never stopped working.”

“It’s been a lifeline. I don’t have very big classes but when we meet up [over Zoom], we check in with each other. We see how we’re doing.”

“Your to-do list, some days, it has just the one thing on it: Stay alive. And if you can do that, it’s a successful day.”