Rational Ground kept me sane during those years. It was so good to have a group of people across this country that recognized the madness and called it out. I lost friends, too. Was yelled at by some of my nurse colleagues who told me I should "know better" when it came to masking and shut downs. I was never so disappointed in my countrymen. Why were so few of us appalled by the labeling of our fellow citizens as "essential" and "non essential?" Why were so many just a-ok with the curbing of civil rights and the censorship? We showed the state just how easily we can be led. I'll never just forget about it all.
My absolute best to you both! Follow both of you on Twitter and enjoy your posts regularly. (Hope the same of you relative to mine, Jenny! I can be a little snarky regarding lunacy like masks, but I attempt to be centered and expository, and occasionally, even funny.) Anyway, "finding" people of like-mind during the great covid dumpster fire was an unexpected benefit. I look forward to enjoying it for a long time to come.
Thank you so much for this. Most days, I feel like I am the only person who remembers any of the insanity. It's that weird contraction of time where it feels like yesterday and yet like a different lifetime.
I've never "gotten over it." I was one of the more fortunate ones. We were able to get my mother out of the nursing home a week or two before the shutdowns. I was barely keeping up with Covid news yet because my immediate circumstances were in already in chaos. She died in 2023. At least she got to be at home with people who loved her. She didn't have to die alone, with us having to say goodbye over a screen. That was my greatest fear. Even though it didn't happen to us, I will never forget how people went through that. I cannot imagine such pain, both for the poor souls left alone, as well as the family saying goodbye.
I didn't lose loved ones. I didn't lose my job because I was already working at home. And, thankfully, I was not pushed into getting the injections.
I did lose my entire church. Despite me asking over and over, they stayed closed for a full year. Then they banned unmasked people for one week short of another year, when Chicago finally reversed the mandates.
I will never forget trying to visit another church and being turned away at the door for not wanting to accept the mask they offered. The worst part? They had a young boy at the door doing this! I am bad with ages, but he must've been 10-12. He was so very sweet. But I just could not give in. The fact that they had a child do this was even more upsetting than being turned away. I sent multiple emails to the pastor asking why they put a child in this position. I never got any response.
Aside from my dementia ridden mother and my father also being hospitalized from the stress of caring for her here at home, I was essentially alone for two years. I have been in a new church for three years, but I have never fully recovered. I still can't do crowds very well. Not because of fear of germs, but because of the noise and commotion. I get borderline panicky. I barely have interactions with people. I don't know how anymore.
I lost my beloved church. I've tried to reestablish contact, but the interest goes one way. I used to babysit for several families with young children. That hurts the most. These are children I held, played with, fed, bathed, changed, and sang to sleep in my arms. I don't have my own children and never will. I loved them like they were my own. They long ago forgot who I even am. I did finally have a meeting with the church in, I think, 2022. The father of one of the kids mentioned that they had been looking through photos on the phone and the boy asked who was "that lady." I sobbed.
I went through my mother's death in 2023 (three days before my own birthday) pretty much alone. I am thankful for my parents' church. They stepped up during that time. Thank God for them. I am also thankful that one of the elders from my new church came to the wake. He barely knew me, much less my parents. But he was there. Another lady helped out with meals and kindness to me. Again, she barely knew me. But these people were present and I will always be thankful for that. My church was absent. I had no one.
Everyone has "moved on." I can't. I am broken. At this point, I don't know if I will ever fully recover.
Thanks again for all you do and DID Justin and Jenny. You were light in that dark time.
I will always remember the "party" you had online when we could all join in on Zoom ...our family of five watched and we KNEW we were not alone anymore...AND the we were right.
It is still too painful to write/share about what "they" and "it" did to us...and were so better off then many....
The world was already insane. Covid just made it more obvious. It stood for citrus orange varieties instant date and people were taking hcq instead. 5 years on it is time for the mandatory fruit avatars. Wearing your fruit avatar is the way to show up the selfish anti-fruiter movement and the lives they are endangering.
Rational Ground kept me sane during those years. It was so good to have a group of people across this country that recognized the madness and called it out. I lost friends, too. Was yelled at by some of my nurse colleagues who told me I should "know better" when it came to masking and shut downs. I was never so disappointed in my countrymen. Why were so few of us appalled by the labeling of our fellow citizens as "essential" and "non essential?" Why were so many just a-ok with the curbing of civil rights and the censorship? We showed the state just how easily we can be led. I'll never just forget about it all.
My absolute best to you both! Follow both of you on Twitter and enjoy your posts regularly. (Hope the same of you relative to mine, Jenny! I can be a little snarky regarding lunacy like masks, but I attempt to be centered and expository, and occasionally, even funny.) Anyway, "finding" people of like-mind during the great covid dumpster fire was an unexpected benefit. I look forward to enjoying it for a long time to come.
Thank you so much for this. Most days, I feel like I am the only person who remembers any of the insanity. It's that weird contraction of time where it feels like yesterday and yet like a different lifetime.
I've never "gotten over it." I was one of the more fortunate ones. We were able to get my mother out of the nursing home a week or two before the shutdowns. I was barely keeping up with Covid news yet because my immediate circumstances were in already in chaos. She died in 2023. At least she got to be at home with people who loved her. She didn't have to die alone, with us having to say goodbye over a screen. That was my greatest fear. Even though it didn't happen to us, I will never forget how people went through that. I cannot imagine such pain, both for the poor souls left alone, as well as the family saying goodbye.
I didn't lose loved ones. I didn't lose my job because I was already working at home. And, thankfully, I was not pushed into getting the injections.
I did lose my entire church. Despite me asking over and over, they stayed closed for a full year. Then they banned unmasked people for one week short of another year, when Chicago finally reversed the mandates.
I will never forget trying to visit another church and being turned away at the door for not wanting to accept the mask they offered. The worst part? They had a young boy at the door doing this! I am bad with ages, but he must've been 10-12. He was so very sweet. But I just could not give in. The fact that they had a child do this was even more upsetting than being turned away. I sent multiple emails to the pastor asking why they put a child in this position. I never got any response.
Aside from my dementia ridden mother and my father also being hospitalized from the stress of caring for her here at home, I was essentially alone for two years. I have been in a new church for three years, but I have never fully recovered. I still can't do crowds very well. Not because of fear of germs, but because of the noise and commotion. I get borderline panicky. I barely have interactions with people. I don't know how anymore.
I lost my beloved church. I've tried to reestablish contact, but the interest goes one way. I used to babysit for several families with young children. That hurts the most. These are children I held, played with, fed, bathed, changed, and sang to sleep in my arms. I don't have my own children and never will. I loved them like they were my own. They long ago forgot who I even am. I did finally have a meeting with the church in, I think, 2022. The father of one of the kids mentioned that they had been looking through photos on the phone and the boy asked who was "that lady." I sobbed.
I went through my mother's death in 2023 (three days before my own birthday) pretty much alone. I am thankful for my parents' church. They stepped up during that time. Thank God for them. I am also thankful that one of the elders from my new church came to the wake. He barely knew me, much less my parents. But he was there. Another lady helped out with meals and kindness to me. Again, she barely knew me. But these people were present and I will always be thankful for that. My church was absent. I had no one.
Everyone has "moved on." I can't. I am broken. At this point, I don't know if I will ever fully recover.
MO, You are NOT alone. There are thousands of us out here. We all remember all too well. It will not be forgotten.
Mo- You ARE loved by us that follow Justin and Jenny. AND by the Lord.
May God continue to bless you, comfort you, and guide you.
Appreciated, thank you!
You both were lights in the darkness for me! Thank you for all you did at that time and now!
I’m thankful as well for the friendships forged! Jenny, your comments always make me laugh and brighten my day!
Thanks again for all you do and DID Justin and Jenny. You were light in that dark time.
I will always remember the "party" you had online when we could all join in on Zoom ...our family of five watched and we KNEW we were not alone anymore...AND the we were right.
It is still too painful to write/share about what "they" and "it" did to us...and were so better off then many....
Thank you.
The world was already insane. Covid just made it more obvious. It stood for citrus orange varieties instant date and people were taking hcq instead. 5 years on it is time for the mandatory fruit avatars. Wearing your fruit avatar is the way to show up the selfish anti-fruiter movement and the lives they are endangering.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NRXx6U8ABQ
I was inside the
Kroger on the Thursday before the lockdowns. There was no toilet paper, so I went and bought some at CVS. There was no line there at all.
Long live the Bidet. 🚽🚽