I don't care what mandates are being lifted and everyone is making a mad dash back to the office to "return to normal," I'm keeping my mask on.

(what can't be done remotely anyway now?)

I have plenty of them and I'm pretty into the giving a shit about others thing at this point.

There is no going back to normal, WE ARE GOING FORWARD. And part of that process of progress is acknowledging what we've been through not running away from it.

I was among the lucky few that did not have any one close to me leave us but I'm still dealing with the overwhelming grief of the losses we suffered together, and how close we came to losing so much more.

I can't deny what we put each other through.

It's painful. It's infuriating to think that so many came to harm and died due to selfishness, apathy and indifference.

Exercise and talking to friends is helping with the depression.

As things open up, I have run into a few old friends every now and then, when meeting we give each other a little flash of our faces at a distance then securely snug them back on our face when talking closely to each other.

In the beginning, it was hard to read people's expressions without seeing their whole face, but I think we've all got more used to looking into each others eyes now.

Bsides, you can still tell I'm smiling.

With this new variant running around, I can only imagine how I much I would freak out if someone I met with got sick after reconnecting, whether it was covid or a cold.

And guess what, I'm going to keep washing my hands too!

Why? Because 🤟