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It is now 2022 and what shall we expect it to bring? Happiness? More income? Better health? Peace in the world? Everything back to normal?

Or just another round of hiding from the newest version of the famed COVID virus and keeping our masks handy for any trip out of the house? What shall be its next name? Where shall it begin? Will it be worse, or by a miracle will it finally be over?

Questions yet to be answered, but we will all live through it one way — one day at a time. So here you are, New Year! Whatever your mission, we are here! Are we ready to face whatever comes, good or bad? Probably varies with different personalities.

It is hard to say if 2021 has really hurried by or if it has lingered under the weight of so much disaster.

So much has changed in our regular lives during the past couple of years. This makes it hard to even make those usual yearly resolutions we talk about so much. It used to be to change a bad habit, such as to quit smoking or to lose weight.

Now we wonder how much we can safely do without ending up in the hospital with the virus? When will we be able to continue family reunions, or go back to church regularly or school activities such as ball games, or go on vacations without so much worry about the virus?

I had just started to go into stores without my mask when the latest virus made its entrance. I saw somebody who had just had the virus and being that close to them put me on guard. Now I’m back to masks again, even though I have had all the shots and the bonus. Still there is that weird fear of the virus and we should all feel it. Seeing people go through it has been tough.

The masks have come in handy sometimes for those of us who hate to have to put on makeup before we make a quick run to the store. The masks cover up the bottom part of the face and keep us from looking so bad! Sometimes they are handy, but all the time? We do keep them on for safety!

I wonder about things. I wish I had known to ask my grandmother about the 1918 virus called the Spanish flu. My grandfather died when my mother was a year old. He was a young man and my grandmother was left with six young children to raise by herself. What made it go away?

I have read and reread every article I can find on that pandemic, and basically, it seems nobody knows what caused it to end.

All I learned was my grandfather took the flu, then pneumonia. His death certificate said he died of pneumonia on Oct. 25, and was buried on his 33rd birthday, Oct. 26, 1918.

The flu first hit this country in the spring, but was mild and went almost unnoticed. A second wave hit in the summer, and was very infectious. By the end of October, it had spread from coast to coast. By the end of the year, it was mostly gone. We have seen waves like this come and are waiting to see them go.

There is always something bad going on in the world at any time. The hurricanes, flooding, wild fires and the recent tornadoes have wreaked havoc on many. The dreadful pandemic sicknesses and loss of lives added during the past year or so have been dreadful.

So how do we greet this new time coming on? Hopefully, we greet it seriously. We certainly pray for better times, and that soon this terrible ordeal is gone forever.

Maybe make our New Year’s resolution to feel more love and less bitterness. This love and God’s faithfulness should rule our hearts into a much better year ahead, no matter the circumstances.

For now, wishing all of you a Happy New Year!

 Retired as Associate News Editor, Bob Ann Breland writes a weekly column for The Daily News. You can email her at bobann70@att.net.