There's only one word for 2022: Madcap

This is the time of year when people like me write recaps of the year we just survived.

"Survived" being the operative word.

If you foresaw all the wacky events that happened in 2022, you're probably in the wrong business.

There's no way to encapsulate it all, and the only reason more stuff didn't happen is because there were only 365 days on the calendar.

In 2022, just when we thought we could no longer be shocked, someone would step forward and say, "Here, hold my pumpkin-spiced beer and body armor."

Most Americans stood on the sidelines, agape, as others dove headfirst into a culture-war mosh pit, accusing each other of being groomers, fascists, pedophiles, commies, socialists and traitors, or as some spelled it, "traders."

More Charita Goshay:Advent invites us to accept the true gift of Christmas

More Charita Goshay:America loses some of its voice

Here's betting your 2022 bingo card didn't include U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene becoming a king-maker, and a former President of the United States having dinner with a pro-Nazi Black rap star and his new BFF, a first-generation Mexican-American who's a Holocaust denier and white supremacist.

Pro-Hitler musings by the Jackass Formerly Known as Kanye West and Nick Fuentes' racist and anti-Jewish screeds were so crazy that even people who make their livings by saying crazy things were rendered speechless.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump, who again made history by taking home classified documents like egg rolls in a doggie bag, and by earning an unprecedented criminal referral, called for the suspension of parts of a Constitution he's never read. Let Jimmy Carter build all the houses he wants; Trump is clinging to the election of 2020 like a time traveler.

Last year, one of the world's richest men bought an overpriced social media outlet to position himself as a free- speech warrior ... unless you used said outlet to poke fun at him.

Inflation pressed most folks to the point where it almost became cheaper to eat the money. Yet it didn't stop people from dropping $10,000 on Taylor Swift tickets, the Super Bowl, and the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry.

In 2022, Hurricane Ian became the most destructive in American history, and mass shootings continued unabated in schools, stores, nightclubs and on the streets of American cities.

Spin it any way you'd like: In 2022, the border was a mess.

President Joe Biden's critics couldn't decide if he's an addled grandpa or Vito Corleone, all while waving about eye-popping old photos of his son Hunter cracked out on, well, crack, making the shenanigans of prior presidential offspring look like dance recitals. Accusations that the media colluded to suppress negative stories about the Bidens flew like shrapnel, most of it false, but a lot of it self-inflicted.

Crypto-bros became overnight billionaires before going bankrupt faster than you could iron one of their wrinkled T-shirts.

In 2022, the COVID-19 virus was thought to be vanquished, yet kept popping up out of nowhere, like a process server.

Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, provoking the wrath of some, answering the prayers of others, and offering yet another example of how divided we are as a nation.

In 2022, we lost too many notables to list, but they include Queen Elizabeth II, Sidney Poitier, Irene Cara, Christine McVie and Loretta Lynn; diplomats Madeleine Albright and Ashton Carter; Jerry Lee Lewis, former Russia President MikhaiI Gorbachev; TV stars Kirstie Alley and Nichelle Nichols; sports legends Franco Harris, Bill Russell, Gaylord Perry and Vin Scully; and my personal favorite, historian David McCullough.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary chose "gaslighting" as its Word of the Year, while the Oxford University Press selected "goblin mode," a term describing self-imposed chaos.

But maybe it should have been two other words, namely "election deniers."

Not all the drama at the Academy Awards was on the silver screen. Host Chris Rock probably could have used a stuntman, thanks to a slap heard around the world from actor Will Smith, who went on to win an Oscar for Best Actor.

It wasn't all bad. America's queen, Dolly Parton, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The FIFA World Cup caught the attention of Americans who don't even watch soccer.

Yes, "soccer."

Young women in here, in Iran and Afghanistan took the lead in defending democracy and demanding equality.

WNBA star Brittney Griner was released from Russia through a prisoner exchange, a deal that's being second-guessed by people who suddenly have become experts in diplomacy and geopolitics because they binge-watch "Love After Lockup."

Defying the odds and expectations, the wunderkind Cleveland Guardians gave their faithful fans a thrill with a run in the playoffs, led by Terry Francona, the American League Manager of the Year.

However, the Cleveland Browns didn't relinquish their crown as the most frustrating sports team in America. There's neither enough space nor daylight to recap what has become an endless telenovela.

Members of Generation Z came out in force to vote, taking the baton and very likely saving America from itself.

We could say we have every expectation this year will be a better one, but why tempt fate?

Charita M. Goshay is a Canton Repository staff writer and member of the editorial board. Reach her at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Columnist Charita Goshay recaps 2022