This old proverb attributed to Alexander Pope says that people will keep on hoping no matter the odds.  One year ago today, I made the tough choice to send you home to quarantine against a virus we knew nothing about.  That time was surreal – we knew why we were taking extreme safety measures, but it was difficult to believe it was truly happening.

Then we fought back.  We adapted.  We learned to work in new ways, we got a lot of important work done, and we set many positive records at Wolverine.  Humans have remarkable capacity for ingenuity, adaptation and resilience.  I will be forever proud of how Wolverine employees made the best of a really tough year.

Like you, I found new ways to work with my  team – many of which were much better than old habits.  We interacted more frequently, and in some ways we were more efficient.  I enjoyed not having to travel so much and  I spent considerably more time outdoors hiking dozens of miles in northern Michigan.

Working from home also left me feeling a bit depressed.  I missed the energy from seeing you all, watching you solve problems, hearing you laugh in the lunch room.  In truth, COVID also made me slow down, reflect, and face some things that were hiding behind the whirlwind of travel.  Slowing down allowed some of the hard stuff, that otherwise gets buried, take root.  It was time for me to clean out that old closet — hard work, and not much fun, but it feels immensely satisfying now that I can look back from on the other side.  I feel thankful for skilled, compassionate counselors who specialize in helping us work through tough issues.

COVID took so much from us, and yet we enter this summer stronger, more efficient, and more thankful.   I believe we will return slowly to a more interactive lifestyle.   The human need for social interaction is simply too strong.  We want to eat in restaurants, attend church, provide each other support, and see each other more regularly at work.  In this regard, I tasked Senior Team with developing new work rules.  I expect sometime in the next three months things will look a little more like they used to, although some of last year’s adaptations will continue.  I will authorize certain remote work latitude that did not exist two years ago.  To be clear, this latitude will be granted by Supervisors, not employees.   We will also continue to use virtual platforms to conduct regular meetings to cut down on non-productive travel.

I relish the thought of COVID’s demise.  If we cannot kill it outright, I hope through vaccination, safe practices and time, we can relegate it to the curiosity bin of history.  We know more about COVID today, and when we understand the bogeyman, he often proves smaller in reality than when we let him grow to immensity feeding on our fears.  COVID is real, but we’re learning how to manage it.  Spring reminds me of goodness — excitement for being together, feeling warm sun on our faces, and the joy of seeing new life all around us.  Hope springs eternal, and maybe, spring feeds our eternal hope.