My beautiful wife - a world class physician and mom - got the vaccine today. We're so very relieved, thankful & blessed.

I'm including the picture because being married to a doctor like her in 2020 has made me think about America differently today, in good ways & bad. 1/x

When this all started to get bad in March, I said to my students that America in a crisis is a maddening place - I bet that too people would die, too many would get rich, too many of the wrong things would be tried. Not a novel argument if you know history but still. 2/x

That was my post 9/11 experience. And it's been my experience this year. But - and I say this as a guy who has been very privileged - because of my wife I saw so many pieces of this country fail over and over again the last 9 months. 3/x

We spent two weeks googling N-95 masks, looking everywhere we could find because there was a shortage that exposed her and many other doctors/nurses/workers, who were seeing many many patients with Covid. 4/x

We tried to decipher through the advice being given, the data being collected and analysis being offered by the government because it was clear the federal Y even state and local institutions weren't up to this mess for lots of reasons - only some related to Trump. 5/x

We talked about horrific stories from a community decimated by the effect of Covid. Too many without jobs, too few in school, too much drugs/abuse/etc. Vulnerable communities have taken the brunt of this, and so have those who care for those communities. 6/x

We worried about violence. Over the summer, Proud Boys began patrolling at a spot between our home and her work. They would cut in front of the car and harass and stare -- presumably because she's Indian American. But who knows? 7/x

A lot of this isn't a new American story. For a many in this country, this is life, exposed to the inequities, the institutional failure, the racism and violence. I don't dispute that or claim that with one year or a few bad days that I can understand it. 8/x

But then within a few days of a research breakthrough that will be discussed forever, the email came through that she was scheduled to get the vaccine within a week. The relief & joy were real - the first time I have cried all year. 9/x

In a global pandemic, one that's killed 1.7m and infected another 77m, it is surreal to be one of the first people to feel that way. To get the shot -- and even to wait in the car while someone got it. 10/x

That all happened here too: the innovation, prioritization - a miracle coming to a syringe near all of us soon. We told our kids but they're a little young to get it all - or what it means - though they worry about the virus. 11/x

But on the ride home we talked about what we'll tell them in a few decades about this year and Covid-19. I will probably say the same thing - America is maddening on a good day but especially on the bad days. 12/x

None of this needed to be this way. None of it. But all of it oddly makes sense. Wherever this pandemic started - and wherever it ends - 2020 has been an American year. A year in which 9/10 days can break your heart, your body, or both. But also 1 that is awe-inspiring. 13/x

Every country has its quirks. But few do highs/lows quite like the U.S. The good doesn't outweigh the bad. The hope doesn't overwhelm the heartache. But in a year that's changed so much, it really hasn't changed that. 14/x

That won't change on Dec 31 or anytime next year. There will be hiccups and fuckups to come. But for everyone that does, there's always the chance something good will go down soon enough. White knuckling a year isn't for the faint of heart but neither is America. 15/15.