Each December, as one year winds down and another is just a glimmer of possibility, I try to encapsulate the outgoing year—and how I experienced it—in a single word or phrase. The year I regained my health by losing weight, went skydiving and took a pilgrimage to Italy with my mother, my word was Joy. The year my grandmother and my husband’s father died was Grief. The following year, which included memorial services, surgery and a new medication to control chronic migraines, was Healing. 2020, full of death, derecho, Covid and Black Lives Matter, was Breathe. Last year, when I gained better work-life equilibrium, learned to better deal with those whose beliefs don’t coincide with mine and joined the world in the great pause, I chose the word Balance.
Since 2023 is just a few days away, it is time for me and others to once again sum up the whole year in just one word or phrase. Dictionary.com chose Woman. Oxford chose Goblin Mode (which it defines as “a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations”). Merriam-Webster chose Gaslighting. Runners-up on various sites include words like Quiet-quitting, LGBTQIA and Truth-telling.
So what word would I choose for 2022? The world witnessed a devastating war in Ukraine, the collapse of Roe v. Wade, the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the Omicron variant. Personally, my year also included the loss of our beloved dog, Phineas, and what can only be described as a depression for our other four-legged family-member, Callie. To cheer her (and us) up, we adopted another rescue pup we named Lucy, who has filled our lives with lots of chewing, digging, playing and snuggling. We took several trips to visit family, including a stay with my mom, a trip to see my dad following a health scare, a visit with my 99-year-old grandmother and a jaunt to help my mother-in-law move cross country. We hosted a murder mystery dinner party for eight and another for a whopping 120 people at Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration’s Mission Assembly. My husband, Steve, and his bowling team came in second in the country at the United States Bowling Congress’s annual tournament. At Prairiewoods, we dedicated a new peace sculpture, welcomed three new staff members after months of being low-staffed and hosted our first Harvest Dinner.
There are many words that could summarize 2022 for me on a personal level. Roe v. Wade. Perma-pandemic. Rights. Grief. Dog. Opening. Relief.
In the end, I think my experience of 2022 is best summarized by the word Peace. I have prayed for peace for the Ukrainian people, for those who feel they do not have equal rights, for our climate-change-ravaged Earth. I have found some sense of peace in my grief for my beloved Phin. I have found peace in the work-life balance that has developed out of the last few years of pandemic. This has been a time of upheaval in some areas and peace in others. I pray that peace will win.
I encourage you to spend some time with your outgoing year. What one word or phrase summarizes 2022 for you? What goodness will you take from this year of war, peace and continued pandemic? What will you carry forward, and what will you leave behind?
—Andi Lewis, Prairiewoods marketing coordinator