Moments of Note 2020

At the start of every year, I begin a list called “Moments of Note.” Unlike my trademarked “Homework for Life” strategy, I’m not looking for storyworthy moments for my “Moments of Note” list. I’m not recording the amazing and terrible things said by my children, the changes in the way that I think, or realizations about myself, my friends, or the world.

I’m simply keeping a list of noteworthy moments. Stuff I did. Events and occasions worth remembering.

The goal is to be able to look back on a year and recognize all that I did. I’ve been keeping this list for seven years now, but in 2020, it became even more valuable when the pandemic wiped the calendar clean of vacations, business trips, scheduled performances, friend and family get togethers, and so much more.

For many, the year felt like a void of monotony, anxiety, and fear. At times it felt like this for me, too. But on January 1, 2021, as I read my “Moments of Note 2020” to the family during dinner, something happened to all of us. With the ability to look back on the year and recall what we had done, the year suddenly felt decidedly less empty than it had just minutes before.

We forget a lot as human beings. We make little effort to hold onto our days. We toss away our memories like they are worthless, and as a result, we end up feeling like our lives are empty, too.

But when you make an effort to remember these moments from the year, record them, and then review them, you recognize the ground that you have traveled. You remember moments that you can’t believe you nearly forgot. You feel better about the way you spent your time and the things you accomplished.

My family loved the list. Elysha, especially. They even added to it, reminding me of moments that I failed to record.

They’ll love the list even more in 5 years when I read it again.

I keep a similar “Moments of Note” list for summer vacation, to help me say goodbye to another blessed summer and ease back into the school routine in September.

Below is my list of “Moments of Note” for 2020, with a few omissions to preserve privacy. The list isn’t important, though. It means more to me than it will ever to you. Rather than reading my 2020 list, I suggest you start your own 2021 list today. Create a list on your phone, or dedicate a small notebook to the task, or affix the list to your refrigerator.

In about 350 days, you’ll be so happy that you did.

I taught a storytelling workshop in Hartford, CT to people from all five New England states plus NY, NJ, and Ohio.

I attended the Patriots playoff game against the Tennessee Titans in what was Tom Brady’s final game as a Patriot. His final pass as a New England Patriot was a pick-6 to lose the game.

I secured our first Speak Up corporate partnership with a local hotel, which quickly became irrelevant with the pandemic.

We painted our back room. Installed a new TV. Furnished it with new furniture, carpeting, and more. Just in time for the pandemic.

We installed new lighting fixtures in the dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom.

We attended Clara’s first middle school choral and orchestral concerts.

My calcium heart scoring result was a perfect 0.

I played poker with Kaia, Feeney, Sam, and Troy. Feeney inexplicably beat me badly.

Elysha and I attended a They Might Be Giants concert.

Elysha and I attend Jagged Little Pill on Broadway. I perform the “Find a bathroom” miracle.

We take the kids to Madison Square Park and the Museum of Mathematics in Manhattan.

I tell stories online in Costa Rica, the UK, Australia, Singapore, Canada, and several US states virtually during the pandemic.

I play poker with about dozen different friends online via a phone app, Zoom, Spotify, and Venmo.

I teach remotely for the first time in my life.

I lose 20 pounds in the first three months of the year. Then I put 11 of those pounds back on by the end of the year.

I teach a virtual workshop in collaboration with MOPCO Improv Theater that includes participants from 8 different countries and 17 different states. This launches an online consulting and teaching business that continues to grow throughout 2020 and beyond.

Elysha and I produce our first virtual Speak Up show to an audience more more than 120 households. We’ll produce four more in 2020.

I audition for a role on a Showtime special about life during the pandemic and get the part. Then I wait to see if the show actually gets picked up. It does not.

My first round of golf is played in the midst of the pandemic with Jeff at Stanley. I par three holes and tie by best round ever.

Charlie, Elysha, and I watch all the Marvel movies in order over the course of six weeks.

We wash a lot of groceries and establish a system to quarantine them for three days. All of this proves to be pointless eventually.

I fall off a ladder while trying to rescue Tobi from the rafters of the garage.

I get in a verbal altercation with a woman in line at Trader Joe’s who is appalled at having to wear a mask.

The kids learn to ride their bikes without training wheels on the hill beside the Radio League.

I win two Moth virtual StorySLAMs in Boston. I tie in two others and lose the tie breaker both times.

Tobi escapes overnight and is found by our neighbor, Natalie, in their blue shed.

 Charlie starts playing golf.

Charlie, Elysha, and I paddle-board for the first time.

Charlie and Clara begin playing soccer at a clinic in Hartford.

I shoot a 45 on the back 9 at Rockledge with Andrew and Jeff for my best round ever. I follow it up with two 31’s at Buena Vista.

We have Shawn, Brooke, and family over for a socially distant outdoor lunch.

We spend more than 40 summer days at the beach at Winding Trails.

The family goes kayaking several times.

The family goes on a way too long owl hunt in the forest with a Winding Trails naturalist.

I teach storytelling workshops in Australia, Singapore, the UK, Canada, and throughout the US, including workshops for two Fortune 100 companies. I’m also hired by several corporate clients for storytelling and coaching.

I play golf at various times with Sam, Scott, Shep, Andrew, Jeff, Steve, Dan, Donna, and Feeney.

I herniate a disc in my back while swinging a golf club at the range.

Clara, Charlie and I invent “Between the Legs” and “What’s That I Hear?” in Dunning Lake. Clara and Charlie set a new “Between the Legs” record on the last day of the summer.

The family marches in a Black Lives Matter protest in Newington.

I crash into a tree branch while on my bike and tear open my knee.

We replace 14 of our windows and add window treatments.

We install ductless AC.

We convert our home from oil to natural gas.

We eat on the deck on many, many glorious nights.

I start writing a musical with Kaia.

We enjoy two socially distant brunches with the Golders in the driveway.

We eat outdoors at Dish & Dat, Beanz, A.C. Peterson’s, and Effie’s.

I sell “Someday Is Today” to New World Library.

We attend a neighborhood BBQ at the home of Paula and Scott.

Clara, Charlie, and I play mini golf at Safari Golf and Farmington Mini-Golf.

We enjoy many lunches and linners with Nani and Gramps.

I write more than half of “Storyworthy 2.”

I begin the pitch process for a TV show.

I begin teaching in a pandemic, which means a classroom devoid of my stage and almost everything else except for spaced desks, masks, and plexiglass. Thankfully, I think I might have one of my most positive, enthusiastic, and kind classes ever.

I begin writing a solo show about my arrest, trial, and robbery. I assemble a group to listen and provide feedback.

The family rides bumper boats and plays mini golf twice near the end of the summer.

Charlie clobbers a golf ball 110 yards and hits a goose’s butt.

We host Esam and Emma for dinner on the deck.

Charlie and I go outside at 2:00 AM to see a meteor show. Charlie sees a shooting star and is thrilled.

Elysa and Russell come over for an outdoor dinner in the backyard.

Elysha arranges for an ice cream truck to park in our driveway and sell ice cream to all of the neighborhood kids.

Wax museum mask breaks become a multiple daily event in my teaching day.

The family goes biking together many times, and I bike for thousands of miles, exploring every inch of Newington and the neighboring towns.

I take my students for many, many hikes throughout Wolcott Children’s Forest, teaching them ecology, conversation, ice safety, and poetry. We play 3-2-1 and write and play “Bear in the Forest.”

Elysha and I watch “Schitt’s Creek” in its entirety. We watch nearly all of “The Crown.”

I spend the fall under the most beautiful trees in the world with my students, reading and learning and trying desperately to avoid the virus.

Joe Biden is elected President. Kamala Harris is elected Vice President. I am on the phone with a Romanian client when Elysha walks into my office and writes on a pad of paper, “The called Pennsylvania. Biden wins.”

Elysha gets potentially exposed to the coronavirus at work and quarantines.

Charlie cut his finger open on the first night of Hanukkah (actually, Clara cut it).

We meet with our book club outdoors at the home of all four couples and virtually when it becomes too cold.

Elysha receives the Cartier bracelet she’s always wanted for Christmas, and I receive an amazing print of all of my books.

Physical copies of “The Other Mother” and the paperback edition of “Twenty-one Truths About Love” arrive at the house.

I take the kids sledding at Wolcott Park when there is more mud than snow. The kids can barely make it up the hill. I see Peter, the boy who I once stuffed into a desk.