While the COVID-19 pandemic has forced everyone to postpone or cancel our most ambitious plans for 2020, persons diagnosed with FTD and other terminal diseases felt a more acute sense of loss during this most “bucket-list-shredding” of years, a Dec. 23 article in STAT says.

“It’s become standard for some to cast 2020 as a throw-away year, something the door should hit on its way out,” reporter Andrew Joseph writes.

“But losing a year is not the same for everyone,” he continues. “When you’re told that you have a cap on your life…a switch flips that you need to make the most of the time you have left.”

Joseph spoke to Dan Keuning, 50, of Colorado, and Jennifer Lee, 43, of Alabama, both of whom are living with forms of FTD, about how the pandemic affected their plans for 2020.

Keuning said that while missing out on planned cruises has been disappointing, he feels fortunate that he has able to remain at home with his family throughout the year.

Lee, meanwhile, has similarly had to call off a vacation, but has also cherished the time she has spent at home with her husband and “Brady Bunch” family, which comprises her and her husband’s six children. She begins each morning writing down three things she is thankful for and three things she wants to accomplish that day.

To read the entire article, visit the STAT website.