As you’re driving along I-25 through Monument this time of year, off to the west a beautiful star on Sundance Mountain shines brightly after dusk. For a split second, the sight makes us forget this terrible, horrible, no good very bad year (thanks Alexander!).

Thank goodness the pandemic didn’t stop the Christmas Star from lighting up the Tri-Lakes area this year, and it didn’t stop the 87-year holiday tradition of the Yule Log hunt and celebration there from bringing cheer in the midst of our gloom. But most traditions haven’t been so lucky this holiday season.

I was 12 when our family did our first Yule Log hunt. Our first Christmas in Colorado, I remember the carols filling the snowy air, my first taste of Wassail and the hunt up the mountain in the crunchy snow for the notched log. The lucky soul that found the log was hailed as a hometown hero as they rode the log back down!

Like everything else in 2020, it wasn’t quite the same without the sing along, song books or storytelling, but it was blessed with jolly Kurt Voelker still serving up steaming Wassail, children scurrying in the woods to search and the spirit of Christmas spreading good cheer.

Like a lot of childhood memories, I remember how I felt that first year more than I do the details.

And I remember how it felt to go back each Christmas to the familiar excitement of the hunt, the warm feeling of community and tradition. The small-town magic of the season.

This year we’re struggling as a family to keep that magic alive, though we’re determined not let COVID the Grinch steal Christmas. We’re focused on the simple traditions that we can work around lockdowns and zoom calls. We sing along to holiday music at the top of our lungs in the car, we drive neighborhoods to check out the lights (people went ALL out this year), we make cookies almost every day — hello COVID-19 pounds — and dress the dog and cat in Santa gear!

I won’t sugar-coat it; we’re longing for the Colorado traditions of old like a visit to the North Pole in Cascade, sitting on Santa’s lap at our busy mall, or riding the Polar Express in Durango.

But even without these treasures, the Christmas spirit is still strong in our beautiful state as evidenced by the incredible charity efforts going on around the state.

We’ve lost loved ones, jobs, businesses, schoolyard silliness, hugs and a turkey dinner with grandparents. We’ve missed out on watching kids play sports, graduations, weddings and other once-in-a-lifetime celebrations.

And now some of our most cherished Colorado holiday traditions are shut down. In a time that we need all the magic we can conjure to lift our spirits, we’re without most of the beautiful moments that make the memories of a typical rough year melt away.

Maybe the magic of Christmas will be discovered in different ways this year. In the relief of a miracle vaccine; in stockings brimming with gift cards from local restaurants; in the appreciation for the wonder of Zoom (I know, I know you’re over the wonder) so we can catch up with more friends than usual since they are only a click away.

Perhaps there is magic in just being home and keeping it simple with a focus on the small things — or taking action by supporting our friends who own local small businesses so the community endures hereafter.

And what about the magic of Christmas shopping for our kids on our laptop by the fireplace and avoiding that mall parking?

We’re all looking for the bright spots this Christmas, whether it’s the Palmer Lake Christmas star as we drive along I-25, or the joy in seeing our first health-care worker get vaccinated. We’re aching for any chance to connect with our friends, our family, heck, even our cranky uncle at the holiday dinner table!

In the beloved movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Clarence the Angel explains to George that he’s been given a great gift, a chance to see what the world would be like without him.

We’ve actually been given a beautiful gift this year, a chance to see what the world is like without many things we love, that we have taken for granted. Oh, how we miss the magic of years past — of a hug, a feisty family dinner, our health, our beloved holiday traditions. Hopefully we never take those things for granted again.

Perhaps the Christmas miracle in 2020 is just that.

Heidi Ganahl is a businesswoman, entrepreneur, author and at-large member of the University of Colorado Board of Regents, to which she was elected as a Republican in 2016.