IT was on 18 March last year that this column first mentioned the C word – coronavirus.

At the time I wrote how Glasgow was going to need every inch of its fighting spirit.

Understatement, if ever there was one.

March last year feels like much, much more than 15 months ago – it feels like a lifetime ago, and so it should, as it’s a different world now.

However, this week is not the time to look back, it’s time to look forward off the back of yesterday’s announcement that Glasgow and Scotland will return to “beyond Level 0” next week.

In layman’s/taxi driver terms that means that almost all restrictions will be binned. Hallelujah.

Of course, we must all still be careful, test, wear face masks in certain environments and all that jazz.

This is not quite total freedom however it’s as good as it has been since that day 15 months ago.

So, forgive me for punching the air that we might just see more of the following in the weeks ahead:

  • Football fans sitting together with their friends in stadiums at capacity
  • Pubs and restaurants enjoying more people during longer opening hours
  • Young people going to nightclubs, a whole year group doing so for the very first time
  • Students returning to accommodation and also enjoying classes on campus
  • Live music concerts and comedy gigs in our city in front of big crowds again
  • People out, people happy, people smiling.

I hope that’s everything we have to look forward to and more.

“Look forward” there’s that phrase again ... I said earlier that it was not a time for looking back but I want to do so quickly and for good reason.

For it seems the right moment to look back at that period from March last year to now and remember those who were with us at the start but are no longer.

Many drivers have lost loved ones during that period and nothing can ever heal those losses.

Indeed, sadly, we have lost Glasgow taxi drivers during the past year and a half, and those individuals and the families they leave behind should not and will not be forgotten.

It’ll be a bittersweet rest of the year for some but that’s when that famous Glasgow fighting spirit comes back into play.

Onwards and upwards, as they say. Or first left just after the shops, as they say to me! Stay safe.