The year 2020 is finally over yet we will be dealing with its aftermath for years to come. Historians will write theses on the ultimate ramifications. They will have an unprecedented archive of social media data and blog posts to work with, in addition to all the articles and contemporary books that have been published.  

But what about the historians in your family? Your great-grandchildren will want to know the personal details of living through these times. And you and your kids might want to revisit the time as well, from a distance of years, to remember what you were thinking and feeling as the world changed around you.

There are a lot of ways you can commemorate this tumultuous and momentous year. Here are five suggestions:

Write a Letter to Yourself or Your Descendants

With all the multimedia options available to us, don’t forget that there is nothing quite like text for sharing your thoughts and your thought processes. Write to you at 80, your kids at 60, or your great-grandchildren. Write to your descendant who will be doing a school assignment on family history. Make sure to include small details, like what it was like to wear your mask in the grocery store for the first time or how you worried about having to sneeze in public.  

Make a Book

This is a great commemoration activity to do with your kids. Companies like Studentreasures Publishing make it easy to design a book, upload artwork and photographs, and have the final draft printed in hardcover. Your book of 2020 will become a family heirloom, passed down over generations.  

Make a Video

A video is an excellent commemoration option. You can revisit not only your words and pictures but your expressions and vocal tones. Make sure to add in images and footage that you took throughout the year and express how you felt about all the changes around you. To make it easier to edit, you can structure a book or a video as a letter to your future self or descendants.  

Create a Timeline

There are all kinds of cool apps available for making timelines, ranging from simple text for business to full HTML5 with graphics, video, and audio. Make sure to put in milestones from your own experiences as well as the “grim milestones” we have reached together as a country and a world.  

Plant a Tree

There is a reason this simple form of commemoration has endured. Get your family together to plant it, and take lots of pictures. Get everyone to make a short statement on video. Put up a plaque explaining that this tree is in memory of 2020. Make sure to visit periodically and spend some time thinking about the year and its ramifications.  

Completely leaving 2020 in the dust of our memories may be something we’ll all regret later. Find a way to recognize this momentous year so that your family will have it for years to come. 

 

Category: Family Free Time

Tags: 2020