scene from George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead”

The pandemic years have left us numb

These last two years have been so strange and difficult. Some of us lost our jobs. Others got ill and recovered, but have long-term Covid symptoms. Still others lost loved ones. I myself lost a friend I had had for my whole adult life and was not allowed to attend his funeral. Even worse, I hadn’t been notified of his death (I used to keep in touch with his sister, who would have told me, but she herself had passed away a few…