If pressed for an opinion, I would say that I believe 2021 will be a better year for humanity than 2020 has been, based on a layman’s understanding of the current state of medical science, political and economic realities and human nature.

Death’s a funny thing. It can focus your mind, but it also can set your head spinning. It can even do both at the same time, as did to me over the weekend.

Two years ago, a team of filmmakers, artisans and technical wizards led by multi-Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson (“The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Hobbit” trilogy, “King Kong” and much more) completed work on an astonishing documentary titled “They Shall Not Grow Old.” 

Retirement from the U.S. Army didn’t seem to be in the cards for 45-year-old Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman.

On June 8, Hennepin County (Minnesota) District Court Judge Karen Janisch signed a far-reaching order that, among other provisions, flatly prohibits the Minneapolis Police Department from using chokeholds or neck restraints of any kind “for any reason.”

The earliest military death carved into the 140 polished black stone panels of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is that of Air Force Tech. Sgt. Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. of North Weymouth, Mass. He was killed in Saigon on June 8, 1956, at the age of 35.

Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d write: Mick Mulvaney was right.

It’s been a rough five months of history.