The year 2020 broke our hearts. COVID-19 killed hundreds of thousands in the U.S., millions lost their jobs and many thousands took to the streets to protest racial injustice.
We asked people in Austin to tell us what they grieved in 2020 and what they did to get through it. Here's what they had to say.
Yorkie Louie
Louie is Austin’s self-proclaimed “Godfather of Clubbing.”
“In 2020 so many things caused me grief," he said. "But what stood out to me the most was the amount and explosion of division and racism in our country. … I can’t wait to say ‘bye, bye’ to 2020 and let’s go 2021.”
Sam Grey Horse
Grey Horse, or the “Sixth Street Cowboy,” rides mules through downtown Austin.
“Go for a walk," he said. "Go by the river. Go hear the water running. Those are the simple things that are medicine. And that’s what I do. I go ride in the river with my mules.”
Gracie Hopkins
Gracie Hopkins is a second grade teacher at Perez Elementary School in the Austin Independent School District.
"I was really experiencing a very sharp turn in my mood, and I felt like I was really grieving who I was as a person, like I lost who I was," she said. "I, like, wasn’t a teacher anymore. I was recording myself, taking videos of myself … talking to a computer. It was just not who I was."
