Remember a year ago, as 2020 came to a close, so many of us thought 2021 would usher in all the positive changes we needed and wanted? A new president. The end of COVID. The promise of sticking to a New Year’s resolution to lose those last few, or 20, pounds.
Now 2021 is coming to a close, and it’s not that much rosier, is it? An uninvited COVID variant showed up and brought along an extra cousin or two. Political fights are still around and, let’s be honest, are never going to go away no matter who is in office.
We read upsetting and unsettling news every day. All the news stations do wrap-ups of the biggest stories of the year at the end of December.
So, I probably should do the same. I present to you “Amy’s 2021 Wrap-up of the Biggest Stuff That Happened.”
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January
The year kicked off with what was possibly the biggest news story of the year: the debut of the gluten-free Oreo. People who eat gluten with reckless abandon, I envy you, and I have since my celiac disease diagnosis in 1999. That was back before avoiding gluten was cool. Over the years, a gluten-free version of so many favorites have hit the store shelves. The iconic Oreo in gluten-free form was the icing on the cookie cake for me. It made me feel normal, like those left-handed kids in the 1970s who were presented special lefty scissors so they could keep up with the Joneses while cutting their construction paper projects.
February
Groundhog Day kicks off the month, and I am always hopeful our good friend Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow because that means spring will be here soon. Punxsutawney Phil is one of our most famous rodents, probably a little more known than Michael Jackson’s best friend Ben, but not quite the rodent royalty of, say, Mickey Mouse. Mickey and friends have so much success with their theme parks that I think would be unattainable by Phil because guests would never know how to dress for the weather. February also brings us Fat Tuesday or, as I call it, Tuesday.
March
After a late February approval, COVID vaccines became available to us, rolling out in stages. And the race began to get an appointment. It should have been filmed for a reality show.
April
The month of injuries at chez Brown, also known as the month the Brown family met their health insurance deductible for 2021. One …….