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Editorial

It’s hard to believe it has been two years since our lives were flipped upside down.

When we woke up on March 13, 2020, we had seen the images of those wearing masks around the globe, we had heard rumors of shutdowns in other places, we saw cruise ships stuck at docks, but we assumed that things in the U.S. would go on as normal.

That, however, quickly changed on that Friday, as everything shut down.

Now, for two years, we have seen cases and deaths rise from the pandemic, but as we begin to embark on year three of the battle against the virus, we have at least had our common sense and normality return—at least locally.

There are still some with vaccine mandates in other states and some with higher restrictions, but even those states are starting to lift restrictions because of the realization that we can’t continue to let the virus determine how we live our life.

The virus defined us for far too long, but the last year has shown that we can handle it by living a normal life at the same time.

Alabama is the prime example of this because of its low vaccination rate.

Even with that, the state had a decrease in COVID-19 deaths over the last year despite an increase in the number of cases compared to the first year.

The state never has had vaccine mandates to enter businesses and was one of the first to drop mask mandates as well.

With that, venues, schools, restaurants and the economy, in general, have seen returns to normalcy and a big boost. The survival rate for the virus still remains around 99 percent.

It’s refreshing to see from where we were in the early days of the virus when businesses were forced to close, schools were shut down, masks were forced to be worn and we couldn’t even walk both ways down the aisle at the grocery store.

To look back at that and think about how crazy it was with the current state we are in is a positive.

We took precautions, but now we have the choice to get vaccinated or wear a mask if it makes us feel more comfortable or safer.

We’ve come a long way, and more importantly, we have a better understanding of the virus and feel even more comfortable going about our lives.

Hopefully, year three will feature even more positive steps, but either way, it’s good to feel normal again.