Sorry, kid. This year has been rough, but you’ll learn from it

tying your own shoelaces.

There was the one of you with no front teeth strapped into a book bag the size of Australia, grinning at the front door before your maiden voyage to first grade.

If coronavirus had not effectively canceled 2020, the next one may have been you waving goodbye to your folks after they dropped you off for your first day of college this fall.

If you are among the lucky ones, your mom and/or dad surely assumed there would be photos of you all grown up and dressed to kill for prom and tossing a cap high into the air the day you graduated high school.

Maybe you’d get the original cap back, maybe not.

If you were among the lucky, there was an effort to celebrate the first chapter of your life ending.

As nice as it may have been, it probably didn’t make up for the loss of the pomp and circumstance that comes with high school graduation.

Your yearbook probably won’t be filled with memories you can laugh about for years to come.

Sorry, kid.

I wish I could tell you that the road ahead will be smooth. I won’t lie.

If I did, you’d see through the way people saw through the gap in your front teeth when you were a kid. You’re smart that way.

There is a chance your parents won’t be able to wave goodbye to you on the first day of college because campuses won’t be open — or will be open differently than any of us would’ve imagined.

I agree, this is not fair. Many things aren’t these days. You earned “normal.” We won’t get back to normal for a while.

Sorry, kid.

You are going to face many challenges in life. Some of those challenges will be similar to the ones we all faces. Others will be uniquely yours.

No, your parents will not have “real” photos of your senior year to share with their friend on Facebook.

But you’ll no doubt give them plenty to put in their virtual time capsules.

Use the lessons of 2020 to your advantage.

Remember you are resilient. Perhaps this is the first big challenge you’ve faced — or maybe you had major challenges before coronavirus.

Perhaps you weren’t among the lucky ones and your parents weren’t around, willing or able to post those first day or school photos of you.

Like the challenges to come, this one is just one chapter in your life.

A chapter is only part of the book. You likely learned that before first grade. A ceremony is only the celebration of the accomplishment.

You still achieved, and your book has just begun.