I understand a lot of people know how serious COVID-19 is, and I don't mean to suggest that anyone in this community is taking it lightly or falling victim to misinformation and the politicization of a virus but I want to use how I feel right now to try to do something good. If I can convince one person to take things more seriously then I will feel better.
Today, my family had to learn the hard way. I was informed a couple hours ago now that despite all the warnings against gathering for Thanksgiving, and despite the record amounts of deaths and cases of COVID-19 in this country and around the globe, that one of my immediate family members has died today of complications related to COVID-19, only three days after Thanksgiving.
I just want to take a moment to really stress the severity of this pandemic, the impact it's having on millions of families and individuals globally and just how easy it can be to avoid if we all take the appropriate common sense steps to protect ourselves, each other and our families by wearing masks, and opting out of traditional social gatherings until this is over.
It may be difficult to convince family members, it may be difficult to convince yourself, but for the sake of friends, family, the people in your immediate communities, and the people in this community, please give it some heavy consideration if you find yourself being asked, or persuaded to take irresponsible and unsafe actions that may lead to the spread of the virus.
Again, I understand that the media does a good job of blasting this out daily, around the clock, and i don't mean to suggest anyone is ignorant of what should be obvious.
Please stay safe, and take care of each other. It's patriotic to take the steps necessary to prevent others from getting sick, it's patriotic to protect our friends, families, and neighbors, strangers or otherwise, from having to lose someone.
Thank you to everyone in this community that is already taking the necessary precautions to protect their real world communities and families. It's because of people like you that this has not become exponentially worse for the rest of us.
