A year ago, I was at a client site just as the world started hearing about a new virus that had the potential to turn into a pandemic: big predictions for something so unknown and faraway. By the time I flew home two weeks later, there was a full-blown panic on the news and in the airports and from the Uber drivers. Fast forward through an unbelievable and unsettling year to yesterday and my appointment for the first of my two vaccination shots: with that, I now feel there is light at the farthest end of this long dark tunnel. As shocking as this pandemic has been, and there has definitely been some horrible s**t along the way, the people who developed, tested and produced these vaccines should hold a special place in our hearts: along with the medicine, they also inspired expectations and hope. And if there’s any chance that we will get over this and back to some kind of normal, it will be because we can start to begin to forget our fears and plan for the future. Greatness comes in all shapes and sizes, in forms as varied as beautiful resorts to life-saving medicines. The stories about the people who developed these vaccines are starting to come out – great work by regular people doing extraordinary things. Let these spark your excitement and hope today.
Annie Dillard (born 1945): American author and Pulitzer Prize winner
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