It's going to happen, folks, if it hasn't already happened for you.

You're going to step out of your pandemic-induced bubble

-- hopefully still masked-up, but perhaps not --

but you're gonna know someone who isn't quite ready to do the same.

Support and love them anyway.

It's going to happen.

You're going to be ready to eat, play, and linger indoors, but you're gonna know someone who isn't quite prepared to do the same.

Support and love them anyway.

You're going to send your kids to summer camp and brick-and-mortar school in the fall, but you're gonna know someone who isn't quite ready to do the same.

Support and love them anyway.

You're going to return to

the gym,

the salon,

retail stores,

malls,

bowling alleys,

bars, and the like,

but you're gonna know someone who isn't quite ready to do the same.

Support and love them anyway.

Even if,

even when,

they don't,

as quickly and willingly,

support and love you.

2020 was a strange year, and so far, 2021 isn't what any of us would consider normal.

The pandemic has made it far too easy for individuals to look at one another and judge each other's choices.

The pandemic has made it really freakin' challenging for individuals to look at one another and respect each other's choices.

But respecting others, especially those whose thoughts and behavior differ from our own, is a superpower, and it is our greatest weapon against the hate and divide in this Covid-19 era.

It's going to happen, folks, if it hasn't already happened for you.

You're going to make a choice, and you're gonna know someone who disagrees with it.

Someone you know is gonna make a choice, and you're not going to agree with it.

Support and love them anyway.

Not because you want to (because you won't), but because they (and the state of the world) need you to.

When life is confusing and complex, don't make it more unclear and difficult by voluntarily adjudicating others' decisions; they are not yours to adjudicate -- never have been and never will be.

Over the next few

weeks,

months,

even years,

you're going to be

on the same page as some,

a different page as others,

and in a whole other book than many

-- support and love them anyway.