We made it!

Just over a year ago in this space I wrote about taking stock in all the good things that had come amidst the pandemic in 2020. At that point in time, optimism was high for 2021 as the first dose of the Covid 19 vaccine had just been given a week earlier. None of us knew when we would get it (ultimately March for me!) and how effective it would be, but it was certainly good and hopeful news. I was already thinking ‘21 would go down as one of the best years ever.

But it didn’t really turn out that way.

Things got started off on the wrong foot with the horrific events of January 6th. Then the total number of global COVID-19 cases surpassed 100 million. Tom Brady won another Super Bowl (that may not have been bad news for everyone but I am still including it here). In Texas, we struggled with actually having a winter for once, and we were not prepared. And who can forget that meme gold mine that was the cargo container ship ‘Ever Given’, which became a household name after getting stuck in the Suez Canal. (Did any of us ever know the name of a cargo container ship before?)

2021 also brought more disturbing news about social media, which is all the more scary considering that due to the pandemic many have relied on social media even more for their connection to others.

BUT the vaccine was now available! I was very thankful when I heard the good news that my mom was able to get a shot in January (she lives next to a rural hospital). And a couple of months later, I was able to get my first shot, as were my kids shortly thereafter. It felt good to get that shot.

A lot of people got that shot in those first few months, but then vaccine hesitancy and new variants of the virus brought a wave of new cases starting in the fall as bad as the previous winter had been.

But stick with me, this is meant to be a positive piece!

34,000,000 doses of the vaccine are being administered globally daily as of last month. At this pace, it will take about 5 months for 75% of the world’s population to have at least one shot. Here in the US, 1.2 million doses are given each day, and that puts us just a couple months away from 75% of the population having at least one jab. While ALL of us have found plenty to complain about over the last two years, think about it for a minute; in less than two years from the outbreak started in March of 2020, it is highly likely that we will have developed multiple vaccines and gotten them into the arms of three fourths of the US population. Remarkable.

I am in awe of the men and women who were able to accomplish that incredible feat. And equal thanks to those in the healthcare field who had to wage the brutal war in the trenches until the vaccine was a reality. It is thanks to them that we have a chance at ‘normal’ in 2022! Many aspects of our life have returned to somewhat normal.

The whole point of what I wrote last year was that 2020 brought us a new appreciation of what normal was. I believe that it will still take a while to get back there and normal will probably look different than it did in the past (and hopefully won’t include the term ‘new normal’). But it will hopefully mean living our lives without thinking of Covid.

As I watched the NYE fireworks on TV from Sydney last week, I felt like we are over the hump and a year from now we’ll be toasting to what an amazing year 2022 was.

All of us at Thin Pig wish you all the best for success, health, happiness, and most importantly, a lot more togetherness in 2022.

Let’s Try That Again