It was a momentous day, the CDC announcing that vaccinated people, such as myself, will no longer need to wear masks for both indoor and outdoor activities or practice social distancing. I will admit to an emotional dam inside be bursting at the news causing a few tears to run down my face. I look forward to hugging friends and family, there will be a wedding this summer in Washington that will give me the opportunity to to this in spades. It makes sense, knowing what we do. I, vaccinated, am well protected from the virus. This means that the chance of me contracting it and spreading it to others, the reason behind masking, is infinitesimal.
Of course, it will take time for us to sort this out. Masks are still required on public transit and airplanes and, as I live in Chicago, I assume they will be required in a number, if not most, businesses for a while longer. Still, it feels as if we have reached the mouth of a dark tunnel, if not yet stepped completely into the bright sunshine outside it.
This problem coming to a conclusion will give us an opportunity to focus on others brought to light and in some cases exacerbated by this dark era, minority discrimination, income inequality and the state of our nations crumbling infrastructure to name a few. Yet many in our country seem to be intent on obstruction instead of construction. Of continuing to use power to retain power for power's sake instead of utilizing it to better the lives of those they were elected to serve.
Will this change? Will this soon to be past period of social and economic upheaval make people pause and perhaps reassess their traditional allegiances and elect those who will move us forward instead of those who represent and cling to a divisive, harmful and inequitable status quo? Will we see, coming out of these dark ages, an American Renaissance? We can not know, but I, for one, am not yet willing to give up hope.
let us hope so.
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