Bad news begets bad news.

And, as we all very well know at this point, that was certainly the case this year.

Headlines across the world were dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic throughout 2020; there was no escaping it 鈥� neither for the public nor for journalists here covering the stories.

The sheer number of news stories was itself overwhelming, and the content didn鈥檛 make it any easier to stomach; however, some bright moments shone through during this dark year.

Those stories didn鈥檛 always get the spotlight they deserved, often pushed down by daily COVID-19 case counts, new government mandates and general 2020 鈥渄oom and gloom.鈥�

As a result, the 琉璃神社 is looking back at some of those feel-good local stories that arose amid the turbulence, highlighting the togetherness 2020 inadvertently encouraged.

As the world shut down, communities came together. Residents rallied around health-care workers, posting white hearts in the windows of the homes they were cooped up in and paying tribute to hospital staff with parades 鈥� often on a nightly basis through March and April.

The parades didn鈥檛 stop there. With birthday parties unable to be hosted as usual, several children were also surprised by convoys of vehicles on their special day. All of this brought a sense of normalcy to the immense disruption that made its way through everybody鈥檚 lives.

That disruption continues to this day, though as time has gone on, people have become used to the new implements in their everyday lives.

Whether that be masks on their faces or elbow bumps in-lieu of previously-standard handshakes, community members have largely made the commitment to public health, ensuring the spread of the virus will be sufficiently stemmed until somebody jabs us all in the arm with a vaccine.

Until then, it鈥檒l be community that pulls us through, just as it has over the past 10 months.

鈥� Black Press Media