This an opinion column
Two years ago, I happily celebrated New Year’s Eve with my three sons as they ignited fireworks in an alleyway much to the intense indignation of our stuffy neighbors.
Yes, they called the police. The officer kindly asked us to stop firing off bottle rockets and smoke bombs because it was technically a violation of a city ordinance.
Fair enough.
Maybe we all would have celebrated the end of “normal” had we not all been so oblivious to the stealthy virus spreading around the world.
Midnight soon struck and the globe celebrated, spinning helplessly into the year 2020.
Do you remember where you were that night, two years ago? Who you kissed to welcome in the New Year? Were you sipping champagne? Maybe you were sleeping?
Some of you probably took stock of your accomplishments in 2019, charting your plans for improvement in 2020. Maybe you’d finally put that gym membership to use since it’s been sitting on autopay all these months?
What was your New Year’s resolution in 2019?
Two years have come and gone, seemingly slipping away in a blink like the legendary night in the movie The Hangover. Yet, short of having our minds erased by some foreign substance I can stop and remember days during the pandemic being quarantined at home watching and reading how world leaders attempted to navigate this incredibly challenging pandemic.
My prediction for 2022 is that we are closer to the end of this thing than we are to the beginning, and we should start planning crazy celebrations worthy of what you might have read about upon the end of World War II.
Yes, COVID numbers are up dramatically in recent days – record numbers here in Alabama. That’s not to be ignored or taken lightly. But as past COVID waves have come and gone, this too shall pass.
One of my colleagues has been the Nostradamus of forecasting what might happen throughout the pandemic. He poignantly predicted in February 2020 we would vacate the office for “weeks” once the COVID-19 virus spread to the United States.
I thought he was crazy.
Of course he grossly underestimated the timeline of a return to the office, but he was correct about initially stocking up on toilet paper.
Our office vacated March 13, 2020. Our staff has not returned to the building since that day, only a handful of us stopping in here-and-there briefly to see many of the relics of that day still in place, reminiscent of Pompeii though far less dramatic.
My colleague and I often talk about what’s to come instead of reflecting on what has happened. We’re still trying to navigate our team the best we can. I cannot tell you how proud I am of everyone in our company. They have continuously served the public interest throughout while many managed difficult personal circumstances.
Throughout the pandemic, my colleague has pointed to 2023 as the time the world will have one of those big parties. Many big parties worldwide, he predicts, because generally pandemics have a two-to-three year span where they strangle the world before mercifully loosening their grip.
You can Google the science better than I can try to explain it in this space.
As we helplessly spin into the year 2022, my eyes are wide open. I’m prepared for the worst and I hope for the best.
A lot has changed as we inch toward Year 3 of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m focused on the positive blessings in my life, including our decision to move a year ago about a mile away from our old neighborhood.
Of course, the plan tonight is to light off fireworks and see how the neighbors react.
My prediction: we’ll all celebrate a few hours of feeling normal again – socially distanced, of course.
Izzy Gould is Senior Director of Content at AL.com - igould@advancelocal.com
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December 31, 2021 at 09:11PM
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Opinion: Focused on the positive blessings going into Year 3 of COVID - AL.com
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