The bright side

We reached a year. What will we remember fondly? Also, 7 other things worth your time.

So, this is what a pandemic year looks like, huh? According to the parade of content in my newsfeeds and inbox, we’ve reached the one year anniversary.

For obvious reasons, like 500,000+ deaths in the U.S. alone and 2.68 million worldwide, they’re mostly pretty somber:

• Why you might be experiencing what psychologists call 'the anniversary effect' -- and what to do about it (CNN)

• Coronavirus declared global pandemic one year ago: 'Together, we will endure' (Fox News)

• We can finally see the end of the pandemic. We just need to not implode before we get there (LA Times)

But, I have an idea. After writing Understandably for going on 15 months, some of the best days have been when we’ve talked about gratitude. I have my New Jersey neighbor, Stephen Colbert, to thank for prompting me to try to think about things this way.

Colbert is the host of The Late Show on CBS here in the U.S., and he’s talked frankly about a tragic experience in his childhood. When he was 10 years old, his father and two …