As I write this column for New Year’s Eve, reflecting on the almost indescribable torrent of events that made 2020 unlike any other in my 81 years, in a way I feel an unease that I survived the journey while nearly 340,000 of my fellow countrymen did not. Why have I been spared but they were not?

What about the 19.5 million who have contracted the virus? For some, the symptoms were mild, in some cases asymptomatic, and they have made a full recovery, but for others who are struggling to breathe, life is not a certainty. Still others have a variety of complications brought on by the novel coronavirus, and some have been having long-lasting effects.

By this time, many of us know at least one person who contracted COVID-19. That was not the case last March when this silent invader began its dirty work. Because of this, many of us were skeptical about the virus’ virulence. Just a passing annoyance, many of us thought. Just think of all of the mixed messages we were receiving, and, in some cases, still are.

Aside from its health aspects, this virus has affected so many of us in so many different and profound ways.

Its spread has led to an eerie isolation, economic peril, food insecurity, workplace dislocations, a revision and rethinking of how we educate our children, a loss of the comfort of routine and predictability and a sometimes paralyzing fear of what is yet to come, not only for us but for our loved ones and our dear friends.

Despite all of the dangers, many of us say we are tired of it all, that we are suffering from “pandemic fatigue,” so we take unnecessary risks.

This pandemic also has taught us some valuable lessons in the most dramatic fashion. Prime among them is never to take the good times for granted.

Thinking back to January and early February, the last time we might be tempted to say that life was “normal,” we went about our business of working, enjoying the simple pleasures of associating with family and friends, having a drink during happy hour, eating our favorite meal at our favorite restaurant, taking in a sporting event or a concert and preparing for the upcoming Lenten and Easter seasons. College students were settling in for their second semester of the school year and looking forward to spring break.

It was a wonderful life.

I remember reading and hearing brief news stories about a new coronavirus having been confirmed in China in early January after officials there reported several residents of Wuhan province had become ill. But the news media in the United States were focused on the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

On March 16, Gov. Tom Wolf shut down all nonessential businesses to try to get a grip on the growing number of coronavirus cases and deaths in Pennsylvania.

From historically low unemployment in February, the number of jobless in Pennsylvania ballooned to nearly 18% almost overnight. These numbers have been falling ever since, but they are still historically high.

Our way of life has been transformed radically, possibly forever. Even the New Year’s Eve celebrations that we had taken for granted must be altered or eliminated, because if they are not, it could mean contracting the virus ourselves or infecting someone else.

Our everyday vocabulary now includes “mask-wearing,” “social distancing” and “frequent hand-washing.”

In the midst of this most fearful pandemic in more than a century, we were also beset by unprecedented natural and man-made disasters such as a record number of hurricanes, uncontrolled wildfires that took lives and destroyed countless homes and businesses, floods that devastated many communities, including the small Schuylkill County borough of Gilberton, and on and on.

Superimposed over 2020 was the contentious presidential election that pitted Democrat against Republican, neighbor against neighbor, even family member against family member. Here we are eight weeks after the election, and President Trump has not conceded that he has lost to President-elect Joe Biden. He and some of his allies are still strategizing on how to overturn the electorate’s will.

We have a lot of healing to do in our country - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

We have heard it time and time again: We are all in this together, but saying it is not enough. We have to believe it. We have to live it. With the perfection of several vaccines and more to come, there is optimism for taming the virus - not just like that, mind you, but slowly and methodically.

I wonder how future generations will judge the events of this tumultuous year.

Despite all of this overabundance of gloom and doom, with just a sliver of a silver lining, dare I say it? Happy New Year!

Yes, I can, because there were so many examples of ordinary people stepping up to perform extraordinary acts of kindness and heroism. It has given us hope. It has given us a vision of a potentially kinder and gentler future.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com