By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I know I am not the only human being who feels this way, but I want to express this brief thought as a symbol for what likely is in a lot of people’s hearts.

This still new year fills me with a sense of renewal after the year we all have endured. 2020 was the pits, man! The pandemic forced us to stay away from our fellow human beings, many of whom were getting sick and were dying from the killer pandemic. We have changed our habits, our normal routine has been tossed into the crapper. We wear masks, hiding our smiles, winces, grimaces and looks of bemusement.

Yes, we’re still doing many of the things we were advised to do in order to stem the pandemic. However, we appear to be turning the corner, albeit ever so slowly.

Am I concerned about the spike in virus detection? Sure I am. I want the virus to vanish as much as anyone else.

However, as I go about my daily routine, I still am taking precautions but I do so with the sense — call it a hunch — that we may be nearing an end to the turmoil.

Communities in Texas, where we live, and elsewhere are being flooded with vaccines. States and local governments are opening up the eligibility for those who can become fully vaccinated. I saw today that 14 percent of Texans are now inoculated against the virus. That number will rise. We will inch our way toward “herd immunity.”

I say all this with the hope that the worst is behind us. For my money, the worst was as bad as anything I can remember in my 71 years of life on this good Earth.

And our Earth, as good as it is, just might be getting better as we look forward more and spend less time looking back at a time we all would rather forget.