Congratulations to all of you humans! Listen, there isn't anyone happier to see you all get a little of your lives back to normal than me. I will get pet more, Tom will now have people over more who will drop scraps of food on the ground, and I will understand humans better without a mask! Hard to hear you with a mask on.

So many things I missed during the pandemic. Most of all, I missed hugging. Yes, it's true, we dogs love when humans hug. There is an energy behind a hug, that if we are in the presence of a hug, we feel that hug the same way you humans do. It's warm and buzzes in your stomach. After all, we are masters of love. This is why humans love to cuddle us, hold us, pet us, and ultimately love us unconditionally. We don't even have to try to love, and we exude it!

I want you all to still be careful out there. Maybe consider wearing your mask if you're inside in a large group and use a hand sanitizer when traveling or out. Washing your paws more often is a good idea, too, pandemic or not. You all have gone so long without human contact and seeing each other's faces. I love facial expressions because you can feel what someone is trying to communicate by watching their entire face. Watching all of you with masks has been hard for us animals as well. And most of all, there can be celebrations, music concerts, sports outings, and live theater again! Life is a sensory experience!

To feel, taste, hear, smell, see your surroundings with others, make you feel connected, Connected to something bigger. We had to be cautious and vigilant during this last year, but along with that came great fear. This is what I noticed most – fear. That fear made all of you scared, and there is nothing worse than being scared alone, and so many people were alone. Tom and I feel we learned great lessons over the pandemic. Having survived a bad bout of Covid himself, Tom takes things slower now. He tends to not take anything for granted and spends more time gardening, listening to music, reading, playing piano, and talking to his friends. Tom has always been someone who has reached out to others, but that has even changed. He reaches out to others in a different way now. He says since he almost lost his life from Covid, he sees the rest of his life differently. I am not sure exactly what he means, but I have seen him change significantly within the last 15 months. No one wants to ever have this happen again, and it will still be lingering around us for quite a while, but at least now there is a breath of hope. I hope you hug, and I hope you have found a new way to navigate the world in this last year. In some way, that makes you more happy, aware, and content. And I look forward to seeing you all in town and seeing your smiles once again.

Love, Hazel.