It’s the time of year, barring last-minute calamity, that we all take time to catch our breath after surviving another year and introspectively look back on what 2022 was all about.

Like all years, it had moments of sorrow, tragedy, despair. But, honestly, there’ve been worse years; years that we’ve been happier to have disappear and recede into the murk of history.

The staff at the Long Beach Post marched along in step with the year, documenting and otherwise covering the daily events that occurred in the city, and our visuals team was there for everything: the continuing crisis of COVID, the seemingly unsolvable tragedy of homelessness along with the equally frustrating and not baseless fear of gun violence in schools that students continue to grapple with.

And in the midst of sorrow, there have been celebrations of music and the annual roar of the Grand Prix, as well as the mixture of joy and sadness that attends elections.

What follows are 10 of our favorite photographs spanning the range of news and emotions throughout 2022, as we look forward with a perhaps appropriate sense of wariness as we prepare for 2023.

Cyan Wedgeworth takes information from testers as vehicles wait in long lines for COVID-19 testing at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach Monday, Jan. 10, 2022. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.
A pro-choice activist protesting the U.S. Supreme Court’s leaked decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in Downtown Long Beach wears the red cloak and white bonnet of a character from the Hulu series “The Handmaid’s Tale” on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. Photo by Brandon Richardson.
In a corner of North Long Beach just before dawn, Long Beach Police Department Quality of Life Officer Alfonso Navarro approached a man lying on a purple couch cushion on a patch of dirt in a makeshift camp. Volunteers spread throughout the city as Jacob Lansdale was one of the many people experiencing homelessness who were counted on Thursday as part of the annual point-in-time homeless count. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.
An ice cream vendor waits for customers during the Day Trip house music festival near the Queen Mary in Long Beach Saturday, June 25, 2022. Photo by Brandon Richardson.
Wilson High School students stand on stage as as over a thousand students walked out of class to demonstrate in the school’s quad to demand new gun control legislation in Long Beach Friday, June 3, 2022. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.
A woman orders from popular food truck Hibachi Queens, which regularly parks on Shoreline Drive at the Pike Outlets in Long Beach, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. Photo by Brandon Richardson.
Jordan High School holds up their smartphones for a selfie moment at the end of their commencement ceremony at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.
Third place finisher Alex Palou sprays champagne along with Josef Newgarden after the 47th annual Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach Sunday, April 10, 2022. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.
Long Beach mayoral candidate Suzie Price kisses her son Kaevan, 14, before addressing the crowd at her election night party at The 908 restaurant in East Long Beach Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. Photo by Brandon Richardson.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct Quality of Life Officer Alfonso Navarro’s name and title.