Page 6 - December 2020 Voices

COVER STORY

Walk With Me

Pastor Dorothy Cottingham, DTM, PID

It’s that time of year, again. . . the time when most everyone

reflects on the year past and looks toward the New Year.
All I can say is. . . goodbye 2020! And, good riddance! We
plan to stay up ALL NIGHT December 31 to January 1, not

to welcome 2021, but to firmly kick 2020 to the curb! This
has been one for the record books, right?
It all started so innocuously. Just a typical January in
Oregon. A little rain here, a little snow there, lots of clever
comments about “seeing clearly with 2020 vision”. And

then HOLY CROW! You do not need me to tell you what
happened. We each experienced this ridiculous year in our
own way and we all experienced it together.

I invite you to take a walk with me through 2020. Along
the way, you will have experiences of your own to add. As
we walk, let us ask four simple questions about 2020. First,
what made you sad in 2020?
My husband Carl and I have been members of

Toastmasters International for over 40 years. We have both
served on the Toastmaster Board of Directors. I cannot
remember how many International Conventions we have

attended. It has been a while since we attended a convention
for various reasons. This year was going to be different. “Let’s
go to the Toastmasters Convention!” It was late December
2019, early January 2020 when I started campaigning for
a trip to Paris! We are both native Oregonians and have

never been outside of North America. Well, there was that
short trip to Barbados in 1987 . . .

6 ONE COMMUNITY