Peripheral People of 2021

2021 really was a phenomenal year. But I'm reflecting a bit differently this year.

This year I absolutely did not write as many blog posts as I wanted to. But I’m completely okay with not meeting a writing goal. I didn’t write 1 post per month (or even close to that) because I didn’t prioritize it. But I journaled a ton, and that’s for no audience but myself. 

Of course I want to make time for writing for an audience more, but I'm not promising myself any timeline. Maybe a children's book. Definitely a novel someday. Celebs looking for a ghost writer- look at me! ;)

Outside of writing, this year I lived my life fully & felt so much gratitude for all the excitement and happiness I experienced. Personally I had some rough moments, like feeling sad about a setback or being disappointed in myself for a mistake. With friends, we experienced some stressful times supporting each other through major life changes. With family, I watched some of them deal with loss and illness, and did what I could to just be available, even if it didn't feel like much.

However, in this same year, I felt so much joy and was surrounded by endless love and support. I watched friends and family reach major milestones like weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, new jobs, new relationships, graduations. I held beautiful new babies in the family & was amazed at the miracle of life. I traveled to visit my sister for all of her travel nurse locations, my brothers visited me in Chicago, my parents moved me into a gorgeous apartment for my first time living alone. I had countless fun-filled visits with wonderful friends, here in Chicago and all over the country.

I’m proud of all the opportunities I chased, the goals I accomplished, & every person with whom I shared my life & celebrated our good moments together. This year has taught me I have a lot to work on within myself to reach my full potential in many areas of my life, but certainly that I have a massive amount of blessings to be extremely grateful for.

Sounds pretty nice, right? But also pretty vague, I know. Well, you can catch all the details in my memoir some day. But for now, I don’t want to spend time describing a cheesy montage of My 2021.

Instead of recapping the ups and downs of my year, reflecting on the lessons, or even mentioning the people who were staples of my year, I want to do something simpler and smaller. I'd like to commemorate the “peripheral people”, the people who I met in passing, or got to know briefly over a few times total. These are people who came into my life this year, but only on the periphery. They'll probably never read this. They aren't a big part of my life today, or maybe are not part of it at all, they made a positive impression on me for a small moment and acted as an example of faith in humanity. 

Hopefully I reciprocated their kindness and made them feel noticed for a short time. Hopefully this gets you thinking about all of the people in your periphery who make life a little better.

thank you to my "peripheral people" of 2021

1. The tour guides on the Chicago architecture tour (3 times this year)
2. The receptionist at my PT clinic every time I changed appointments
3. The doorman at the building next door to mine, who found my wallet I had dropped, & safely returned it to me
4. The RCN customer service guy on the phone who talked to me about the weather in Chicago and the minor league hockey team in Wilkes-Barre PA 
5. The 3 movers who safely stacked all my belongings into the service elevator, squished in there with me and a security guard, and repeated the process 3 times to get everything moved in
6. The office manager Barbara at Kingston Mines who gave me back my credit card after I lost it on my birthday
7. Joanna Connor's bass player who autographed mine & Alyssa's KM t-shirts
8. The girl in the elevator with a yorkie (just like Izzy!) who talked to me about her oncology job at Lurie's
9. The 2 ladies I sat next to on an airplane, coincidentally on my flight TO Houston AND on the way back
10. The bagel shop workers in Brooklyn who fulfilled my NY bagel dreams after a wild a June weekend with Jenna & Kelly
11. The Uber driver who drove me to Midway airport and told me stories of how he used to drive The Grateful Dead tour bus
12. The newly married couple on flight to NYC, when we were all 6 hours delayed, and the flight attendant surprised them with notes on cocktail napkins, written by other plane passengers
13. Every Trader Joe’s cashier ever (the best!!!)
14. A security guard in my building who told me her son just passed away, and still asked me about my holiday plans
15. The neighbor I’ve only met once who helped me carry my groceries the last block home, and she asked me to pay it forward 
16. All the girls in the bathroom at McGurk’s (STL) who felt bad for me while I was scraping dog poop off my shoes
17. My local librarians (I don't know you, but you are angels)
18. All my Amtrak conductors and flight attendants (shoutout Southwest)
19. The people at Summerfest still selling pizza at 11pm so we could eat drunk munchies by the lake
20. The Drizly delivery guy who brought me a surprise bday present from Rachel
21. The customer service people who helped me order the right EPIC Pass for skiing this year
22. Our hilarious waiter at the Jungle Cruise restaurant in Disney World 
23. The server at Australia wine hut at the end of a full day at EPCOT, who happily posed for our final "drinks around the world" photo
24. The cute little grandmother at Sochi Saigonese restaurant who makes the famous cheesecake
25. The lady who taught us how to make mochi for a McMaster social activity
26. All of the workers at Annette’s ice cream, especially because it's cash only
27. The managers at Labriola who never judge me for reading a book alone at the bar or for the amount of dessert I get for takeout
28. The nurses at Almost Home Kids (they're all saints!)
29. The college kids who run Chicago Sport & Social beach vball league every week without fail
30. The Northwestern research consultant who helped me survive Python class
31. The workers at Christkindlmarket freezing their toes off so I can buy a mug
32. The karaoke guy at Harrigan’s who lets us feel like rockstars on that tiny old stage