* The other weekend I had a Denzel Washington movie marathon and I didn’t even plan for it! It just sort of happened. First, I watched his Oscar winning performance in “Training Day,” followed by the movie remake of “The Magnificent Seven.” Then on that Sunday afternoon, I went to the Nova Theatre and watched “Remember The Titans,” one of my all-time favorite football movies! Also want to add that two more of of my favorite Denzel movies are “Glory” and “Much Ado About Nothing.” Plus, I have to put a plug in for my Russell Crowe and Denzel teaming up for “American Gangster” and “Virtuosity.”

All throughout the year just gone by, there was one word that was used seemingly thousands of times a day, in many differing situations, and I would have bet money that “unprecedented” would be the Word of the Year (WOTY). But for Merriam-Webster, their choice for the 2020 WOTY was “pandemic,” and, okay, I get it... the pandemic came first. It wouldn’t have been such an unprecedented year if we hadn’t had the pandemic. Kind of like, which came first: the chicken or the egg?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART! I saw this poem and thought of you! Wishing you a wonderful birthday filled with love, happiness and joy, but most of all, lots of presents!! What is a Daughter? An ally, confider, an on-your-sider; A lender, a sender, a generous spender; A worry inducer, a confidence booster; A life-enhancer, and knows the answer; A friend, a carer, a recipe sharer; A listener, a talker, a bathroom stalker; A cheeky borrower, a call you tomorrow; A dater, debater, a mess creator; A home lover, a needer of mother; A defender, depender, a cheeky rule bender; A company keeper, confessor and weeper; A shopping tripper and fridge dipper; A holiday taker, a happiness maker; A present buyer, a gentle white liar A joy bringer, a texter and ringer; A hand holder, a sympathetic shoulder; A secret keeper, a beauty treater; An honest advisor, a great trip organizer; A pride inducer, and a memory producer. Not a day has gone by that I haven’t thanked God for sending you to me.

Even if you did not watch the Inauguration Day activities, you have probably seen a picture of Bernie Sanders, socially distanced from everyone and wearing a blue disposable mask. For his cold-weather comfort, Bernie struck a matter-of-fact pose wearing a brownish/green parka. The Vermont senator completed the ensemble with a pair of brown mittens, handmade by a Vermont second-grade teacher. (Get that teacher to make you a matching beret, Bernie!)

* Already said goodbye to the first month of 2021! Can you believe how fast January went? * Actress Cicely Tyson recently passed away. I loved her as Sipsey in the movie “Fried Green Tomatoes,” and love the movie “Sounder.” If you haven’t seen these two movies, I highly recommend them.

Today is 1-21-21, and right from the get-go, I want to state that this is not a political editorial. I could not write a political editorial right now, even if I was paid to. I stay as far away from politics as I can, because I have come to a strange and difficult quandary in my life when I can’t or don’t want to relate to either of our political parties. But I refuse to feel hopeless or helpless.

* Just so you know Peyton Manning is one of the NFL’s 2021 Hall of Fame finalists! * This is so true of me. I don’t do and never have done Snapchat or Tik Tok, but I can write complete sentences with correctly spelled words in cursive, and tell time on a clock with hands.

Recently I sat down and brainstormed with three of my weirdest friends — Me, Myself and I — and made a list of things that happened in the past year, not necessarily related to or because of the coronavirus or the 2020 Election. What follows below, in no particular order, are the events or situations that we came up with. And while my thoughts are in no particular order, the order of the categories is intentional: I want to get “the ugly” over with, and end with “the good.” I don’t care whether you agree with me or not; this is my list, and I’m sticking to it. So here goes.

* I read an Instagram post asking about when you were growing up if you went to bowling alleys, skating rinks or drive-ins for fun. Yes! I did! In fact I can do one better than just saying I went to these three places for entertainment since my parents owned 183 Lanes in Stockton in the ‘60s, so I have wonderful childhood memories of that place. We still frequent it often when our family has something to celebrate like birthdays or get-togethers, or just because we are hungry. As for the skating rinks, who remembers skating on Saturdays at Stockton City Hall and participating in the Limbo contest? And let’s not forget Saturday nights at the Park Drive-In Theatre! Whether you watched the movie in a car or sat by the concession stand with your friends, it was a great night out! Or how about those $1.00 family nights on Wednesday evenings in the summer when the movies were the “oldies but goodies” like Ma and Pa Kettle? Sometimes Dad would back in the station wagon and open up the back door, so we could lie down and snuggle up with our pillows and blankets to watch the movie.

Last year at this time, we were all telling each other “Happy New Year!” Little did we know what was to come in that new year. I know I had looked forward to the year 2020 because it just seemed like a really fun, cool number. But lately, as we neared the end of 2020, I have been looking forward to 2021 with full hope and prayers that it will be better than 2020. Actually, just about anything will be better than 2020.