By Justin Carlucci

Keep your family close.

2020 has been a wild ride. Some ups, and a ton of downs. If there’s anything to learn from this year, my hope is that 2020 at least reinforced the ideas of spending more time and staying in touch with the people you love. Maybe even learn to forgive a bit easier, because life is too short.

It’s a “cold world” out there, as they say. Right now, Americans are stressed out for a million different reasons. Be thankful to wake up every day if you are in good health and have a roof over your head.

I was fortunate enough to spend over 20 years with two of my late grandparents, who were a monumental part of my life. Ironically, we’re in the midst of both of their birthdays, so I just wanted to take the opportunity to highlight them as they were fairly well-known in the area for different reasons.

If I can check half of the boxes that my grandfather A.J. Spitzer did during his life, I would consider myself a lucky man. He was a veteran who enjoyed the simple things in life. He had the opportunity to live in New York, Arizona, Denver and moved to Pennsylvania after meeting my grandmother. Nobody worked harder than him, an NYU grad. When he moved to Jim Thorpe, he was an integral part of the Penn Forest Fire Police.

My grandmother, Barbara, grew up in the Bronx, but enjoyed many things about the Poconos, where she ended up living for about 30 years as well. She would go to the Carbon County Career & Technical Institute weekly to get her hair done and spent a lot of time spamming Karen Cimms’s TN inbox with her crazy story ideas. She enjoyed shopping at Walmart and eating at Trattoria 903 (who doesn’t?). If you knew either one of them, they would do anything to help out at any time.

I called both of my grandparents every day when I physically could not make it to see them. During their later years, I did as much as I could to help out. It stinks when people you care about grow old, and often times, there is no right answer in regard to what more to do, or how else you can help. Many tough decisions have to be made and it’s emotionally taxing.

My point is, sometimes I feel like I still didn’t do enough - even though I did. However, every second was well worth it, and I would do it again immediately for anyone in my circle.

Maybe it’s not your grandparents. Maybe it’s a close friend. Or maybe it’s your dog. Family isn’t always blood; it’s who truly cares about you. Make sure to reciprocate.

Make time for them. Check up on them.

A simple hello or text message can make someone’s day. I mean it’s not as great as when someone pays for your Dunkin’ Donuts order in the drive-thru, but it can be special.

Our country is going through a delicate time right now. Check in on the people you care about, because you never know what tomorrow will bring.

Happy birthday, Nana & Pop.

Oh, and lastly, please register to vote.

I don’t care who you support, but none of it matters if you don’t VOTE. And you definitely shouldn’t be posting your opinion on Facebook if you won’t be voting. There sure are plenty of highly educated social media politicians (sarcasm). In a perfect world, only registered voters would be able to share their opinions publicly. It would eliminate a lot of garbage to sift through online.