I have been thinking all week how I should express my Christmas greeting to the Fishers community in 2020.  Most of us look back on this year with a bad taste in our mouths, and with good reason.  This has been a hard year for most of us.

I do not want to minimize that pain.  COVID-19 has brought serious health and economic hardships.  People have become sick.  People have spent time in the hospital due to coronavirus.  People have died.

I do believe most of us have become numb to the numbers, but there is human suffering and pain attached to these numbers.  For instance, there have been a total of 6,538 positive tests for Fishers residents since the pandemic began. I was one of those.  I was also one of the lucky ones to survive.

There have been 51 people in Fishers listed as dead due to COVID-19.  That is not just a number.  Those people are moms, dads, brothers, sisters and spouses.  Each COVID death impacts an entire family and circle of friends.

With all that pain, I want to point out that there are acts of kindness going on throughout our fair city of Fishers.  Mayor Scott Fadness has started a campaign to recognize those in Fishers helping others.

Even with the divisions we see within our local community, we often forget that selfless acts of kindness are happening all day, every day throughout Fishers.

So, let us not forget about how we help each other out.  It is worth recognition.

In this very difficult year, I have something to celebrate myself.  I became a grandfather for the first time.  My grandson Dakota is four months old now and the light of my family’s life in a year that has not provided much to rejoice.

So, as hard as things are, let’s remember and recognize the good that is happening in our communities and our families.  Do not ignore the suffering and hardships many of us are undergoing at this time.  Perhaps you can find a way to help your neighbors, as many people in Fishers are doing now.

Please, enjoy the holiday season.  God bless all the readers of my LarryInFishers.com news blog.