@VDCdriver I am sorry for the loss of your former student. That is far too young, too short a life. I have lost two friends to the disease and a third who died from a catastrophic negative reaction to one of the vaccines. And there are three members of my extended family in two other states who almost died, who spent more time hospitalized than I did.
My dad used to joke that getting older was much like being a used car, it’s all a matter of time and mileage. Compared to some of our regulars on here, I’m still “just a kid,” my having turned age seventy-one a few weeks ago. I hope that I have many years left but at the same time I am very aware that long-covid is taking a terrible toll on me; I’m not aging well. That said, I refuse to lose, so I keep going forward as best as I can.