Commentary: Tom Purcell - A real hunger for normality Tom Purcell FacebookTwitterEmail My recent trip to Florida was glorious for one simple reason: it was normal. You see, I had been hungering for a friendly social gathering for months — any gathering involving family, friends, business colleagues or old classmates would do. I had been hungering for the simple ability to freely assemble with my fellow humans, as I did routinely before COVID struck. My family is still smarting over the loss of our Thanksgiving feast. For the first time in six decades, my parents’ house wasn’t packed full of 30 to 40 people.