This post made me really sad. I think about Soldiers all the time, largely because so many of them lived on the army base across the street from where I grew up.
Many of their children went to school with me, and I saw the toll it took on kids whose parents couldn’t be at home for the holidays.
It’s hard to explain to an eight year old that the reason their parent isn’t coming home is because they are off at war while we’re safe in our beds. It’s hard to explain to a seventeen year old too.
Life is incredibly chaotic for people living on an army base, especially if one or both of your parents are stationed away from home. A lot of kids who are children of people in the armed services grow up with anxiety, depression, issues with authority and mental health.
Lots of kids feel abandoned and as if they aren’t as important as their parents job, even if that’s not true. It takes a toll on the spouse staying home, it takes a toll on the entire family, because you spend a lot of time wondering if your person or persons are going to come home at all.
So to know that so many of these men and women who are fighting for our freedom, are stranded and unable to come home, because of how bad the covid numbers are, it breaks my fucking heart.
The problem with the entire MAGA crowd is that they echo Donald Trump’s racism, selfishness, manipulation, and outright lies, that are destroying our entire planet.
They don’t believe in climate change.
They don’t believe in masks.
They don’t believe in helping anyone, if it doesn’t serve their highest purpose, which is inevitably always, themselves, and they are incredibly exhausting.
There is a line being drawn in the sand right now, it’s us vs them, and the us, those of us who see the effects of Covid19, are fighting a difficult uphill battle of trying to make space for them, who don’t give a fuck about anyone but themselves.
Wearing a mask isn’t about you protecting yourself, it’s about protecting other people from you, and the fact that so many people refuse to step outside of themselves and think about anyone but, themselves, is annoying.
It’s frustrating, it’s irritating, and it’s taking up space for those of us who are doing the best we can to just survive.
This whole year has been a blessing in disguise. I wrote a book, I started a podcast, and my numbers have never been greater, but I’ve also never felt more alone.
I spend most of my days alone, connecting to people through a computer screen, I can’t remember the last time I had a conversation with a real human being that wasn’t my mom. I think it was last month with my Doctor, and that was over zoom.
Oh and a couple of sessions with the BudSista’s, but it’s not the same as being in the same room as another human being.
It’s difficult being a single woman on your own trying to keep your own spirits up while trying to also keep up the spirits of others, but I do it because we’re in the middle of a fucking pandemic and it’s not about me.
It’s about my neighbour who is well into her sixties and is incredibly immunocompromised. I do it for my mom who works on the front lines.
My sister in law, my aunt, and my cousin who are all nurses working in hospitals or care homes where they are watching people die by the hundreds every month.
I do it because I am a human being who doesn’t want to die, and what I can’t understand is how in the face of overwhelming evidence, you can choose to believe the lie, over what is clearly the truth.
It’s not enough for me to say that they are afraid of the truth, the truth is that these are selfish narcissistic people who only consider how the world affects them.
They are abusive people who claim to fight for the rights of Americans, when what they really mean is “we only fight for Americans who look like we do, talk like we do, believe like we do.”
They are completely terrified of change, and I understand that too, but I accept that change is a part of growth. These people don’t want to grow, they don’t want to evolve, they want to stay where they are because it’s comfortable and because in their darkness they wield a tiny amount of power that makes them feel like they matter.
The truth is that these people do matter, they absolutely deserve to have good lives, but not at the expense of the Soldiers fighting halfway across the world unable to see their families.
Not at the risk of Doctors, Nurses, Teachers, and yes, even Cops who are right now putting their lives on the line, to help protect the rest of us from a pandemic that shows no signs of slowing down or stopping.
Wear your damned mask. Put it on, suck it up, go back home and stay there until you absolutely need to go out again. I promise you as difficult as this is, it will be worth it in the end.
Sending all my love to those stationed away from home, and your families,
Devon J Hall
Loud Mouth Brown Girl 