Remarks from Mark

I constantly have to encourage myself to be positive and not paranoid during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

When I say positive, I don't mean testing positive for the coronavirus, of course, but rather having an optimistic outlook.

It's been difficult for me now and then to not feel defeated by the world we live in, thanks to a disease that seems to be far from done doing damage.

The COVID-19 vaccines have made me hopeful that victory over this virus will arrive sooner rather than later, but who knows when this pandemic will pass.

Family, friends and football are three constants that have helped me get through many tough times during my life, including during the past year.

My wife, Christina, and I made a difficult decision last year to leave Sheldon, Iowa – where we had lived for several years – to move back to Nebraska.

The fortunate part for us is we live in a city – Bloomfield – where we have a support system of relatives, many of whom live right down the street from us.

We also travel occasionally to Omaha to visit my parents and vice versa. We are all careful and don't go out anywhere to do anything unless it's just a quick coffee or food run.

I'm so thankful to have a wonderful wife in Christina, a hospice nurse who works hard and does so much for Hazel, our daughter, and me.

And being at home with Hazel has been a blessing for me, especially during this pandemic, and makes me happy as I get to see her grow and learn each day.

As far as friends, Christina and I haven't seen many of ours in person for months because people are busy, life gets in the way and we're dealing with COVID-19.

It's mostly that last reason we haven't hung out with many friends. This disease has made things difficult and really needs to disappear.

The only friend we have seen in person during the past year on occasion is Ty Rushing, a former co-worker I met while on the job as a journalist in northwest Iowa.

He's really the only friend we've hung out with on a consistent basis since the coronavirus arrived in the United States and we plan to hang out with him again sometime soon.

Before people yell at us that we shouldn't be doing that, we are all serious about wearing masks out in public and social distancing from other people.

We're not planning to hang out with him to watch the Super Bowl Sunday evening, but that's more due to Hazel having an early bedtime and Christina working the next day.

And if you don't know by now, Ty and I are huge fans of the Kansas City Chiefs, one of the two teams playing in Sunday's game in Tampa, Florida.

The other team happens to be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who will enjoy a rare homefield advantage in the big game.

The Chiefs' recent run of success has made living during a pandemic a bit more bearable because I get lost in the amazing action on the football field.

Sports really aren't that important in the whole scheme of things, but they've helped me briefly forget the brutal reality of a global disease outbreak.

I plan to get wrapped up in a pro football game again Sunday evening when the Chiefs take on the Buccaneers and hopefully win back-to-back Super Bowl victories.

Anyway, I just encourage people to be positive – and not test positive – during the COVID-19 pandemic as much as possible and to be kind to one another.

If you have one, lean on your support system of family and friends when you need to – and feel free to join me in getting lost in the final NFL game of the season.