The memorable year 2020 is history.

Like almost everyone, I was glad to witness its end. But always an optimist, I am able to see some silver linings in that otherwise dismal year. Probably you can, too.

I ask, what did I learn from living through such an unprecedented experience? In what ways am I a better person for it? What aspects of our COVID-19 lives do we want to retain long after the pandemic ends?

In a year that saw both my husband and my best friend pass away just four weeks apart, I learned I am a survivor.

No one could have convinced me I would be resilient enough to endure that kind of agony - in isolation, no less. But I did. Now I am thinking I have the strength and courage to face almost anything. That feeling was weak in me before the virus upended our lives.

Many of us learned in 2020 what we could do without. I don’t need constant activity or company to fulfill my life, I discovered. Solitude can be peaceful.

Most of my life has been lived at a frenetic pace. My father once remarked, when I was in my 40s, that I reminded him of a hurricane! Overcommitment was my middle name. No more.

Being shut in most of the year showed me the calm of slowing down. When household supplies disappeared from store shelves, I found that washcloths are a great substitute for paper towels. Instead of tearing off a half sheet of toweling when I wash my hands, which is often, I reach for the stack of washcloths piled high on the kitchen counter. Absorbent, washable and reusable, they will remain my towel of choice even when store stock is abundant.

Several friends learned in 2020 they actually enjoy cooking and baking. Sounds funny at our age, but these friends were accustomed to eating out and store-bought baked goodies. Now these guys and gals have a new hobby, which they say will be preserved even when life gets back to normal.

One male friend has been enjoying his kitchen so much, he decided to make pizzelle cookies for the first time. I, and other friends, were the lucky Christmas recipients.

With in-person socializing dangerous to our health, we had to create new ways of seeing family and friends. Many turned to Zoom and similar Internet solutions. I opted for bundled-up outdoor get-togethers. Snow picnics became my social outlet. I never met with more than two people at a time, and we wore masks and kept our distance.

Over the holidays, I enjoyed five such visits at outdoor venues, usually public parks with picnic tables. Physically being with important people in my life was heartwarming and made me forget how cold I was.

I have discovered a great reason to re-purpose my masks. Even when the pandemic ends, I plan to wear a triple-layer mask outdoors in winter to keep my face warm. It feels so good!

And I was not the only one celebrating a fall and winter without the usual miserable colds and flu that seem to plague us every year at that time. Wearing a mask, keeping our distance from others and washing our hands frequently seems to have warded off a lot of the ailments people typically acquire during cold-weather months.

These are habits I plan to continue every winter, including wearing a mask in public indoor spaces, even after the virus is under control and restrictions are lifted.

Together, we weathered the 2020 crisis.

With vaccines now underway, I think we have much to look forward to later this year. I am seeing hope and possibilities. We also have much from 2020 to kick to the curb.

A friend said she wrote on a slip of paper all the things from last year she wants to leave behind. Then she threw the list into her wood-burning stove and watched the miseries disappear.

Whatever way we choose to put the sadness and inconveniences of last year behind us, we can take heart knowing we survived the unthinkable. We were tested. We remained strong. We did not give up.