For many people, 2020 has been a tough year. January started with large fires in Australia, moved into the U.S. Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump and ended with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The tone of the year didn’t seem to improve for many as spring lockdowns were followed up with large protests after the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by police and a major wildfire season, which included the three largest wildfires in Colorado’s recorded history.

While it undeniably has been a historically tough year for people all around the globe, many also have found a few silver linings. All across Summit County, people shared their perspectives on the good that has come out of the past year as well as their hopes for the year to come.

For some, the good things that have come from 2020 include a deeper sense of community as people came together to contain the pandemic.

“I think people got a lot kinder,” said Theresa Carroll, who was visiting the Frisco Peninsula Recreation Area from Arkansas. “I think they started working together better, for the good of everyone, not just themselves.”

That was a sentiment echoed by Cassie McCoy as she enjoyed the Runway Sledding Hill in Breckenridge with her family.

“I think people are able to extend a lot more grace, especially in the work environment, and people are going through their different struggles, whether it’s home schooling or kids being at home or just trying to navigate through the emotional turmoil of 2020,” said McCoy, who was visiting from Texas.

McCoy added that she’s been grateful for the additional time she’s been able to spend with family. Something that Josie Elizondo, another visitor from Texas, mentioned as she enjoyed time on the sledding hill with her wife and three kids.

“You appreciate family more,” Elizondo said. “There are a lot of things you take for granted, a lot of things you think you needed before, but (now) just being home in quarantine and realizing everything you need is what you have at home.”

Up on the top of Hoosier Pass, New Jersey resident Josh Mauchly said he was able to reconnect with his family amid the pandemic for the first time in years.

While loading up her car at the Lowes in Silverthorne, Breckenridge resident Reilly Desantis said she’s been grateful for the fact that the pandemic has given her time to slow down and spend additional time with her kids and family at home as they learn and work remotely. It’s also allowed her the chance to reflect and appreciate things she might have taken for granted before.

“I have been trying to focus on how this year has made me feel more content and at peace,” she said, adding that she hopes to be more present and appreciative of her time with family in 2021.

Over at the Outlets at Silverthorne, Leadville resident Anahise Shoukas said the year has given her similar opportunities to be reflective and “go at a slower pace,” for which she’s grateful.

For Melissa Wedel — who was shopping at the Outlets while visiting from Wichita, Kansas — that change of pace has allowed her to appreciate and realize what she has, even as she hopes for “a little bit more normalcy” in 2021.

Back at the Peninsula Recreation Area, Florida resident Roberto Ramon was appreciating the opportunity for a change of scenery as the year has reduced the amount of travel he and his wife, Meghan, have been able to do.

“Usually, we travel more, but (being up here), it’s definitely the best of 2020,” he said. Both he and his wife are hoping 2021 brings a “sense of normalcy” as well.

For Colorado Springs resident Sebastian Mauchly, 2021 will hopefully include “all of my goals for 2020” as well as the possibility to put a little money aside to ensure he’s in a better position if anything bad happens to him in the coming year.

As she looks forward to 2021, Carroll, who works as a nurse at a hospital in Arkansas, said she’s hoping cases will drop so she can finally get a little more rest.

“I’m at an age where I was looking at retirement, but I’ve worked more overtime hours in the last year than I did when I was younger,” she said. “I’m looking for this thing to slow down a little bit.”