Think back to the beginning of this year. Everything was still shutdown.  We were waiting for the number of COVID-19 cases to drop off so things could start opening again.  We hoped vaccines would get the pandemic under control and help boost economic growth so we could return to a normal way of life. Upwards of 20 million people were still unemployed, but consumer sentiment was up from an eight-year low in April 2020.

Then 2021 happened! And what a year it has been. Just think about some of the unexpected events we saw.