This is…this is disgusting.

“So while the rest of the world seems to have moved on from the pandemic, in our house, it is still 2020. We wear masks when we go into public indoor spaces. We don’t eat inside restaurants. We don’t go to movies. We have people take COVID tests before they enter our house. All this leaves me feeling torn between two emotions. I want to keep my husband safe and healthy. But I also want our old life back.”

Before that quote, she talks about how her husband is immunocompromised and how his first COVID infection left him very ill. And how she’s pregnant. And how there’s still so much more we don’t know about COVID yet.

Like…I want my old life back, too. But it’s gone. I don’t think we’ll get back to that for a long time (if ever).

This whole thing is also something I fear. I’ve never had COVID (as far as I know) and thus don’t suffer from long COVID, but I’m still cautious as hell because I don’t want to get COVID and risk the chance of long COVID. My family members put up with my cautiousness for now and still (to some extent at least) maintain a level of caution themselves, but what happens when they decide to stop? What happens when they decide that my caution is unwarranted and not worth keeping up masking in public spaces or being careful around others (even if they probably don’t have COVID)?

What happens when our levels of caution are no longer compatible? I feel like I’m going to be masking still for a long time, especially given my job. How much longer will my family want to put up with my caution?

I don’t know. And it’s not a fun thing to think about.