...or, as many might think it, the continuation of 2020 and the COVID era.
I don't think a one of us believed that COVID, after taking a quarter million Americans in 2020, would then take a half million Americans in 2021. We do now have vaccines, but the virus has responded with variants. I sadly believe that this era will remain with us until a good antiviral pill comes online so that those who get the bug can easily get cured of the bug.
Meanwhile, it was a year of living with COVID - heavy emphasis on the living!
My company, American Homes 4 Rent, continues to grow tremendously, and I was proud to be a part of significant leadership, performance management, and succession planning initiatives throughout the year. After the debacle of 2020, I am deliciously grateful for being able to report that the entire calendar year was spent with the same company! LOL indeed.
A big change for me was actually a return of sorts. You might remember that I was in Las Vegas for a few years, at the Venetian/Palazzo, with great friend and mentor Bob Mruz. Now, five years after that stint, I'm back in Las Vegas (okay, Henderson actually) to be at the home office of AH4R.
The timing, as is true for so many events during COVID, was interesting but worked out in the end. I had a short lease in Castle Rock, Colorado, after the evil Seattle company's misbehavior, and I had joined AH4R knowing that I'd need to be locating to Las Vegas, where about 500 of our team is. When my lease was up in May, I eagerly packed and found a great home in Cadence, a new community in the Henderson part of the metro area. We set up a kind of "return to office tour" for July, visited many of our offices around the country...and then the Delta variant put yet another delay in plans. No return to office in 2021, as it turned out. We're currently scheduled to return on January 18, 2022. I'll let you know next year how THAT timing works out!
Nick continues to do well on the east coast, and I get to see him over Christmas. I'll also keep you up to date on how THAT works out!
I am happy, doing good things, and looking forward to perhaps a smidgen of stability in 2022. But if you know how things have gone the past couple of years (and I know many of you have experienced very much what I've had to go through), you know that these days, projecting even a few months ahead is essentially TBD.
My best advice: Keep living. Even with COVID. Keep enjoying your friends, your families, the wonders and benefits of living. There's always so much to see and learn.
Have a wonderful holiday season!
