It may not seem like there’s much to be grateful for this year. It’s probably pointless to note the pandemic has been the ultimate trump card on everything in 2020, but here we are.

Still, there’s plenty to be thankful for if you look below the surface. Most notable are our health care workers, nursing home staff, teachers and others on the front lines in packing plants, grocery stores and delivery trucks who are keeping life as normal as possible through this mess. There are too many people and professions to list, and they get taken for granted during non-pandemic times. We mustn’t ignore them as this difficult juncture.

Coronavirus is rampant around these parts and across the Midwest at large. At this point we all know somebody who’s contracted the virus and many in this very community have had an incredibly tough go of things on their path to recovery. We can all be thankful for their healing and those who haven’t yet gotten COVID-19 can be grateful for their health. The effects of this virus are so varied that nobody knows how it will turn out for them personally. Some have only temporarily lost their taste and smell, while others have been hospitalized for long stays. It’s a terrible crapshoot.

Yet there is hope, and that’s also something we can be grateful for. Vaccines are on the way and the news has given us a renewed shot of optimism that life can return to normal sooner rather than later. We’ve slogged through nine months of this and there is finally some light coming from the other side of the tunnel.

It’s incumbent for us to have some perspective here, too. While we’ve missed out on our favorite events, avoided loved ones and accepted other small sacrifices, greater generations before us have endured so much more in the form of world wars, economic depressions and other hardships. Wearing a mask in public and avoiding large gatherings to keep yourself and others safe isn’t even in the same ballpark.

Have a safe and socially-distanced Thanksgiving. When this pandemic gets you down, remember there’s still plenty to be thankful for – most notably that it’s almost over.