Day 11

This is an easy one. It was actually something I wanted to talk about yestrday, but there was SO MUCH to be thankful for that it had to wait. 

​These two got their vaccines yesterday!  I could not be happier or moreTHANKFUL that they are on their way to greater protection.  They are great little troopers about wearing their masks, even at school when most of the other kids weren't, and were brave about getting their shots. (I am also thankful that their school instituted a mask policy soon after the year started.) 

I also realized that yesterday's post about Kristen's adoption and today's post about the vaccine have an interesting link. Here's the story:  Kristen's adoption was delayed several months because in 2003 China was combatting the SARS Covid virus and adoptions were put on hold for about six months.

In response to the SARS outbreak a group of scientists started doing some serious research on vaccines to address coronaviruses. While most of the world was only slightly impacted, it could have been much worse, and the scientific community knew that sooner or later we would be faced with a far more contagious and deadly version, such as the MERS virus in 2014. While not on the public's radar, the research continued to evolve giving the scientific and pharmaceutical community 16 years of data and experience when the nighmare scenario arrived in 2019.

Much like the myth of the "overnight sensation," the vaccines that are saving our lives today may seem to have miraculously arrived overnight, but in fact are a result of years of research prompted by that epidemic in 2003. While I was frustrated by the delay that kept me from my baby then, I am thankful for the people who recognized the risk and have spent their careers preparing for this moment  and protecting my grandbabies. Thank you, thank you, thank you.