Be sure to stop by Havana Jack’s on Sunday, Nov. 29, from 1 to 4 p.m. for Socially Distant Photos with Santa! Local photographer Natalie Danko will shoot your family in front of a green screen, and Santa will be added digitally in the background! Santa and Mrs. Claus will be there — socially distant, of course. A $20 donation to Presents In Paradise gets you three beautiful color photos of your family with Santa, and all the proceeds go to helping local families afford Christmas for their kids. See you Sunday!
*****
This has been a tough year for so many of us. And it’s okay not to be thankful this Thanksgiving — anyone who wants one gets a pass this year. But it’s still a good idea to search for the things that truly matter and find the ones worth celebrating as we move into the holidays.
Personally, I’m thankful for a wonderful girlfriend (Sarah), the ability to play and create music, awesome family members, and good friends in the Keys and beyond. I’m thankful for some amazing and inspirational music that has been released this year, and I’m thankful for all the places where I can share my music.
I’m thankful for the fact that I live in the Keys, and that (for the most part) people take mask requirements and social distancing seriously. While most of the rest of the nation is dealing with a huge spike and regional outbreak hotspots, Marathon’s number of cases remains low.
That doesn’t mean we can afford to be lax in our efforts to prevent such a spike here. Remember that wearing a mask is a sign that you care enough about your fellow human beings to help protect them. We all know people who have been infected; I have several friends who recently tested positive for Covid-19. Most are recovering nicely, but some are really struggling. All our thoughts and prayers are with them.
I’m thankful for our local businesses who take the pandemic seriously and do what it takes to protect their staff and their guests. Those business owners and managers are the reason we can remain open and maintain a vibrant economy while other areas are going into lockdown again. Once again, it’s incumbent upon all of us to follow protocols and do what we can to minimize the spread and keep our local businesses open. Shopping these local businesses this holiday season is another way to support our community as well.
I’m especially thankful for our community leaders and my colleagues in local government. Before this year, no one ran for public office thinking they’d be placed into a position to craft a local response to a global pandemic. Keys officials have had to make really tough decisions this year, and not all of them have been popular. And hindsight is, well, 20/20. But these folks did what they could do with the overriding mission of keeping the public as safe as possible.
Probably my biggest quotient of thankfulness is for those in the front lines of our battle against Covid-19: our healthcare workers, first responders, and medical professionals. From those who respond to calls for service in law enforcement and fire/EMS, to those who work the emergency room admissions desk, to those who test people who may be Covid-positive, to the pharmacists, the nurses, the doctors, and the cleaning and housekeeping staffs at our local medical facilities — you all have gone above and beyond every day since this started. Our community owes you all a huge debt of gratitude.
I’m very thankful that multiple vaccines have proven effective and may begin distribution as soon as next month. Combining the improved ability to treat those infected with a number of effective vaccines could get us all closer to normal again. I’m hopeful that next Thanksgiving will truly be a celebration of our return to travel and living and the defeat of the novel coronavirus. While Covid-19 may truly never totally disappear, relegating it to “flu status” or less would be a real victory.
I choose to be optimistic as we rush headlong into the holiday season. After Christmas and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, we have a New Year, new vaccines and a new hope that we will get back to all the things we once enjoyed. All those things we took for granted — like going to concerts and sporting events, hanging out with friends in a crowded bar, traveling to see family or visit amazing places, even simply shaking hands and hugging your friends — are all on the other side of the New Year. Until then, let’s all be patient, wear a mask and do what we need to do to make next Thanksgiving the best one ever.
