Thankful during the Covid Era? You’re darn right I am

This has been one of the rougher holiday seasons for our family; in fact, my wife and I – after 43 and a half years of marriage – experienced our first Thanksgiving of no family get-togethers. No kids. No grandkids. No other relatives, either. And Christmas looks about as promising as Thanksgiving. Seriously, let's break open a new case of Kleenex, and let it all out, shall we?

And while you’re at it, you might want to stock up on the toilet paper. (You remember what happened about eight months ago, and keep in mind that we are supposed to learn valuable lessons from past experiences.) Don’t be caught having to use some of those leaves you never got around to raking last month. And yes, the neighbors will know exactly what you are using those leaves for – don’t try to play “innocent” because they're not as dumb as they look.

So, we could sit here and feel sorry for ourselves (and make no mistake, I take great pride in my ability to mope at a moment’s notice), but au contraire, mon ami. In this “new normal” of social distancing, face masks, and near-lethal doses of hand sanitizer, we have somehow found alternate means to communicate with family and friends.

FaceTime. Zoom. Texting like there’s no tomorrow. Emailing as if it were free (oh wait, it is). Snail-mailing something just to catch someone off-guard (do it while you can, folks, the post office –as we know it – may be going the way of the Yugo before you know it). Drive-bys are becoming more common. Yes, we are channeling road rage into “nice” rage. Who says Americans have trouble adapting? Darn right.

But, since this is supposed to be a sports-related column, let us shift our gaze to the Browns. Yes, the Browns. The very same Browns who boast a couple of underperforming first-round draft choices (Baker Mayfield and Myles Garrett), lousy special teams, a very lousy defense, and a schizophrenic offense. And oh, yes, we would be remiss were we to forget rookie head coach Kevin Stefanski, who some have compared to last year’s exercise in futility, Freddie Kitchens (who we really are trying to forget).

But as much as I love to moan and groan about these guys – and I believe they really should be much better than they have shown so far – the fact is, these guys might still win 10 or 11 games.

Think about it: 10 or 11 victories? That usually takes any team named the Browns four or five years to accumulate. And I’m sittin’ here complaining? What in the name of Brady Quinn am I complaining about?

I have a brother-in-law (who is slightly younger than me, BTW) who has spent the better part of the last year recovering from a heart attack he had a week before Christmas 2019. He’s a battler, and last week took his first steps (actually walking) since being hospitalized. It’s obviously been an uphill battle, but lesser people (raise your hand, Jeff) undoubtedly would not have persevered to the extent he has.

So … what again was it I was not thankful for?