With crowds gathering with seemingly no after-effects. it looks like we can finally put COVID-19 in our rear view.

Enough of us have been vaccinated that it seems like we’re at the point where it doesn’t matter if the rest of you choose not to. I certainly chose to, and I’m glad I did. I travel extensively for my job, and I need to see all kinds of people, vaccinated or unvaccinated.

I’ve been vaccinated for all kinds of things. I’m glad my parents made that decision before I could.

I personally felt like getting the shot was the right thing to do to move past this. I can accept that others didn’t have that opinion. However, we’re moving forward now, because of the herd, not because of them. A lot of people questioned whether COVID-19 was as serious as it was made out to be. I know people who had it, and it was very mild. I know people who died. Sure, they had something wrong with them in addition to their COVID symptoms. I won’t minimize the importance of the years they had left to live, though. The virus shortened their lives and took them from their families.

A lot of our public health workers and schools were attacked for restrictions they put in place because of COVID-19. I appreciate what they did and how hard they worked to get us to the point we’re at now. No one wanted to send kids to school in masks, but it didn’t seem to bother kids as much as it did parents who didn’t like it. The kids just appreciated being in the classroom everyday.

These were indeed extraordinary times, and extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. We’ve seen that through history when generations before us had to battle similar health crises.

I do agree investigation needs to take place on the root cause of this pandemic. Wouldn’t it be something if our taxpayer dollars were funding the program that was the genesis of this thing? We need to know, either way.

I have yet to have the opportunity to be in a situation where there are big crowds, but it was pretty cool to see all those people partying in Milwaukee. Thousands of people, shoulder to shoulder, outside watching a basketball game.

It’s evident that it’s going to be a big year for community events. People were sick and tired of being cooped up for a year, and they’re going to cut loose. I tried my version of cutting loose last week, but I decided to wait until the temperature and humidity drop. Then I’ll be out and about with a vengeance!

I fully respect the views of people who chose not to be vaccinated against COVID-19. At the same time, I’m really glad enough of us stepped forward to get rid of this thing.