In December 2019 I was teaching a series on suffering in my parish. I attended a performance of Handel's Messiah at St. Olaf's Catholic Church. I went to breakfast a couple of mornings with friends. I did all the usual Christmas stuff.
Unknown to me, during that month a virus left Wuhan, China and started looking for me. It took 30 months, but he found me. Took me out when I had my guard down. Could have been in the grocery store, or at church, or just bumping into a fellow redneck at the C-store.
My thanks to all of you who wore masks, got vaccinated, and paid attention to science. My thanks to all who listened to and trusted the CDC. My thanks to all who listened to their doctor and ignored the static.
You kept this away from me for quite a while. You made it harder to find me. You bought time for the inventors. By the time it caught me, I was so well protected by the inventions of the pharmaceutical industry that I only had one day of mild nausea. So far. Thank you President Trump. Thank you President Biden.