This is the final Rank & File for 2021, a year unlike any other. The human race continues to be in the grips of a pandemic, something that almost all of us have never experienced, nor want to experience ever again. The horrific impact of Covid-19 brought us to our knees, and as we started to recover in the spring thinking it was under control, we got pulled back in. Today we are continuing to lose ground in spite of the vaccinations and the boosters. As the positive rates and hospitalizations rise, a sense of hopelessness creeps in. Too many remain at risk, and the unvaccinated are filling the ICU’s, ending up on respirators and ventilators. Lines and wait times for tests are growing. The transmission of the variants is getting out of control again as we let our guards down. Protect yourselves and your families. We know the protocols: mask, wash, and disinfect. Social distance. I know it’s hard not to want to be with our families and loved ones, but we all need to use good judgment around the holiday gatherings. Get vaccinated. If not for yourself, do it for the rest of us. 800,000 deaths in our country and the efforts to beat this thing continue to be politicized. Unbelievable.
Americans should all be pulling in the same direction to fix this. Our lives have been changed, and we really don’t know if we are ever going back to what we once knew as normal. It’s sad.
If there was ever a time for hope, peace, and some joy, it’s now. It is my hope for all, and especially for those who celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Christmas, that the holiday season brings some solace into their lives and that the New Year turns the tide. I personally will pray for a lot of things to happen in the new year, but mostly I will pray for the children and the broken world that they unfortunately are going to inherit unless we fix it. God bless them.
