Got it with a sticker as proof. Never saw so many happy eyes as we waited masked and six feet apart to get our vaccine. There was shouting, according to those with young ears. But to the rest of us, quiet chit-chat about the thrill of winning a shot in the arm. Masks require speaking up, as do old ears. Looking around I thought of something my brother sent to encourage me. “When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.” But, today I’m grateful to be alive. As I’ve said before, to age is a gift.

When my turn came to enter one of the small cubicles, the nurse and I chatted about the miracle of these vaccines. She, like I, had Moderna, not Pfizer. The nurse informed me,”Your arm may get a little sore for a couple of days.” Well, I can think of worse, like more than half a million reasons worse.

While waiting, to certify no adverse reaction to the vaccine, I sat and stared. The Atlantic ocean waved just outside the windows of the Elks Lodge on Atlantic Avenue. It’s quite a picturesque place to stage a war against Covid.

As I sat among peers, I thought of “advice” to older folks from the internet. ” Never sing in the shower! Singing leads to dancing, dancing leads to slipping. And slipping leads to paramedics seeing you naked. So don’t sing!” Sounds like some other faulty reasoning I heard about what dancing could lead to when I was growing up.

Well, all advice isn’t equal. But to get the shot, wear a mask is good for more than what ails me or you. It demonstrates that we love God, our neighbors as ourselves, and know a miracle when it shows up as a vaccine. It is not about our political leanings.

However, it is about trust and gratitude. For instance, I’m thankful for thousands of men and women who worked in labs around the world to develop these vaccines. I’m grateful for all who took it from a lab to a shot in my arm. And I trust Dr. Francis Collins and Dr. Fauci at the NIH.

But I also trust winter won’t last and I’m thankful it’s raining not snowing today. Spring’s making escape routes for winter with warming temperatures. (40s)

Come to think of it, spring’s God’s shot in the arm, a season of glorious surprises. Spring reminds us anything’s possible with Easter as God’s exclamation point. That makes me want to break out in song. But not in the shower!

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