By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
Today is the last day of 2021, and it is fitting I suppose to look back on the previous 364 days and try to make some sense of it.
Unlike 2020, this year seemed to be a little more normal in that the world regained some of its footing after the discombobulations we experienced from the Covid-19 pandemic.
I say some, because the pandemic is still raging all over the world, with cases spiking once again to levels that approached the worst days of 2020.
Already, there have been two new variants of Covid-19 that have reignited fears in the public mind, the Delta variant, which raged through the summer and fall, and the Omicron, which is fueling a renewed surge in cases even as we speak.
Based on that, I’ve concluded that Covid isn’t going away. Ever. I mean, seriously, we’re still dealing with the so-called Spanish Flu in some form or another, more than a century after the pandemic of 1918-19 that killed millions.
Folks, we are never “going back” to the way things were before March 2020, when Covid-19 burst on the scene.
Fortunately, the vaccines are helping mitigate the effects of the disease, giving more people a better chance of surviving if they catch it, and lessening the long-term effects after the disease moves through the system.
It’s a shame that the vaccines have become such a political football, but that’s the world we live in. All I can say is that I’ve had both Pfizer vaccines, and the booster, and almost everyone I know has likewise been vaccinated.
Neither I nor the others I know who have gotten vaccinated have had any adverse effects from the shots, and those I know who have had Covid – among them, my brother, my son, two nephews and my pastor – have come through without serious issue.
With the pandemic easing up somewhat (knock on wood, y’all), I’ve been able to get out and resume doing some of the things that I enjoyed before the world stopped in 2020.
I got a chance to go to Houston to see the Astros play a key late-season game against Tampa Bay, which the ‘Stros won, and a few weeks later, my wife and I went back to Houston to see Dead and Company, the Grateful Dead offshoot band, both events with my brother and sister.
A week later, rock and roll – good rock and roll – came to Hattiesburg when the Blue Oyster Cult played the Saenger Theater. They were one of my favorite bands in the mid-70s, and they put on a really good performance. It was almost like old times. Almost.
Sadly, though, my year in 2021 was defined by the passing of my father in late February. He was 89 and he had lived a good life whose hallmark was love of family and love of country, both of which he served zealously.
Early on Christmas morning, my sister Caroline posted a video on Facebook that she had taken a few years ago of Dad reading the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke.
It was extremely bittersweet. On the one hand, it drove home our loss, hammering home that he’s really gone forever. However, it was still good to hear his voice again, even if it was from an old video.
Caroline is the baby of the family – she’s 15 years younger than me – and Dad’s death hit her especially hard, so I can only imagine how tough it was for her to dig up that video and put it out there.
Surprisingly, my mom was in pretty good spirits on Christmas Day, all things considered. She passed her 91st birthday in November without major issues, although she gave us a scare a few weeks later, when she fell while getting ready for a bath.
Fortunately, she’s getting better – no broken bones, just some bruising – but it was a scary moment. She’s a tough old bird, but at her age any health issue is a serious matter.
That was one reason why I decided we were going all-out for Christmas dinner this year. I smoked a turkey, and Stephanie and I spent the day in the kitchen. What better way to spend the holiday than bringing the family together over a good meal.
It wasn’t the whole family, however. My younger son, Stephen, spent Christmas with his new wife and her family in Laurel. She has been a true blessing in his life, and I couldn’t begrudge his wish to spend their first Christmas together with her family.
Their wedding in August at the new house they bought in Jones County was a real hoot, a Roaring 20s-themed backyard ceremony featuring the kids from her class at West Jones Elementary that were a big part of their courtship.
She teaches fourth-grade math at West Jones, and a couple of years ago when Stephen was deployed in Kuwait, her class sent letters to service personnel from his unit, and he was one who sent a letter back.
That started a long-distance friendship that blossomed once he got home. I’m really happy for him. She has really bonded with my granddaughter and has been a positive influence on both Stephen and Lynnon.
My other two kids are also rocking along. This next year is going to be a big one for my daughter, Sarah, who will graduate from Southern Miss in May with her second degree, in biochemistry, to go with the BS in microbiology she earned in 2015.
She has applied for a spot in the astrobiology program at the University of Colorado, working toward what she hopes is a PhD in the subject, and she expects to get a response in the next few weeks.
I’m not sure I understand exactly what astrobiology involves, but I think it has something to do with the study of life, or potential life, on other planets, in our galaxy and beyond. It’s definitely Star Trek/Star Wars stuff, but she lights up like a Christmas tree whenever she talks about it, so we’re hoping for a positive response.
Her Plan B if she doesn’t get in the program at CU is to move to Houston – closer to Mom and the rest of my family – find work in the aerospace industry and try again in a couple of years.
Either way, she’s getting ready to flex her wings and leave Hattiesburg. Dad isn’t 100 percent sure how he feels about that.
My oldest son, Sam, is puttering right along with his family. He and his wife have two sons, now 8 and 6, that are all boy and all Caldwell, for better or worse.
They are the fifth generation of Caldwells with two brothers close in age who were … a handful growing up. My grandfather and his brother Rufus, my dad and my Uncle Richard, me and my brother Kevin, and my two boys have set a high benchmark for male mayhem that Connor and Kieran seem more than capable of reaching.
We all turned out pretty well despite the exploits of our youths, and I feel sure these two will turn out fine, as well, though not before they drive all of us adults a little crazy.
February 5 in 2022 will be a red-letter date for me and my lovely bride, for that will mark 40 years since Stephanie and I first met.
We were actually a blind date that my sister Mary Jean arranged when she was still at USM in the early 80s. She and her husband moved into a duplex on Ross Boulevard and Stephanie lived in the other half of the house.
They hit it off and a few weeks later they brought her to New Orleans, where I was living at the time, for a concert featuring Arlo Guthrie, back when the Riverboat President was a venue for rock shows.
We stood right there at the piano while Arlo sang Alice’s Restaurant, and the rest is history. For those who don’t think God works in mysterious ways, it took a very particular and precise set of circumstances for our paths to cross.
In some ways I see a little bit of George Bailey, from the movie It’s Wonderful Life, in our marriage and in my life. When I started out as a sportswriter, I saw myself quickly moving out of Hattiesburg and on up in the business, same as George dreamed of doing “big things.”
But, like George Bailey, who got stuck in Bedford Falls, I never left Hattiesburg, never went to work for Sports Illustrated or the New York Times. Life kind of got in the way.
We started having kids, Stephanie had a widowed mother that she felt responsible for, plus a career as a critical-care nurse that she loved, and before long, we had planted roots. Like Mary Hatch for George Bailey, Stephanie has been my rock, without whom I am lost.
Now? Now, you couldn’t get me out of Hattiesburg for any amount of love, money or fame. I truly believe this is the best city in the State of Mississippi, and maybe the entire Southeast. I have a house that’s paid for, food in the freezer and friends of every kind in the area, and there are so many good things happening here.
So, while this year has seen more than its share of sadness and fear, I also feel truly blessed, with good health and good fortune.
I won’t be sorry to see 2021 leave, for any number of reasons, and I have no idea if 2022 will be any better. But life goes on and I expect to live it with the same gusto that I have tried to live these past few years with.
So, to all of my friends, family, colleagues and readers, have a happy and blessed New Year. May God give you everything you need and some of what you want.
Stan Caldwell is a veteran sportswriter with more than 35 years in the Hattiesburg area.
Very well said. When I started nursing school, my plan was to work for 1-2 years for experience, and then move. I ended up being forced into ICU and never looked back.
When our blind date started, my first thought when I met you was, He’s got possibilities.
Every year shares gains and losses with family. I’m blessed to have you.