Even though the year is now a full three months in the rearview mirror, the ghosts of 2020 continue to hover close. COVID-19, which we all prayed would be long gone by now, continues to infect more than 60,000 Americans per day and the death toll continues to rise, even as we race to get more vaccine shots in more arms. Politically, we remain painfully divided, as evidenced by the hundreds of Trump flags still fluttering in the wind all across Gaston and Cleveland counties, even though the election is now a full five months in the past. And culturally, we seem to be more and more at odds with each other, unable to agree on common priorities and common goals, focusing instead on petty divisions and foolish fractures.