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There are few singular moments in history that are indelible in the cultural consciousness of Americans today. The World War II victory days, the assassinations of JFK and MLK, the moon landing, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the terror attacks of Sept. 11, the elections of the country’s first Black president and the man who came after him: The collective memories of these events defined entire generations. Ask most anyone who lived through one of them, and they can recount precisely where they were, who they were with, and what they were feeling when it happened.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, which upended the life of billions and has killed more Americans than any modern war or tragedy, is a little trickier to define. Unlike other pivotal moments in history, there’s isn’t a defined date for when it all began, no 5/8/45 or 11/22/63 or 9/11/01 to lean on when seeking an appropriate milestone, no easy box to point to on the calendar. Everyone has a different date for their “panniversary,” their own personalized demarcations between the Before Times and the New Normal.