Take me with you as you go back out into the world,
masked.

We are but a few.

Those of us for whom the threat of the virus still looms large. We are the ones who have to continue to keep the six feet then ten feet of distance even as you creep toward us unaware.
We are the ones who see the line out the door and keep driving.
We are the ones who have to go back indoors or turn and walk the long way home.
We are the ones who still need the curbside pick up, the delivery service,
the ADA protection.
We are the ones who represent those numbers, those lines on a graph.
Faceless, nameless, leveraged.
Often reduced to represent a side of a scale weighed opposite to risk.
The goal is not balance but to avoid a tipping point.

Take me with you.

As I see your faces so clearly
adventure
represented in ads and social media.
Yes, you are blessed.
Yes, it is amazing that you are all together again.
We are the ones who absorb the eye rolls
and the
vitriol
as people holler
“scamdemic”.
We are the recipients of the misappropriation of the term “Karen”
attached to us for merely pointing out the fact that a business refuses to follow a mandate that protects us–
all of us–
the vulnerable in YOUR community.
We are the ones who cannot afford to spend our days googling for the narrative we like the best
or for the one we adorn to fit the lifestyle we want
but rather
spend our time reading scientific journals
recommended by our medical teams of specialists
who
have
kept
us
alive
so
far.

We believe in science
because science has saved us.

Faith over fear means believing in the validity of our God given ability to access our brains and trust the posture of being the learner over fearing the loss of freedoms or privilege that were never promised.

Take me with you

as you make those memories
that will be the stories you tell future generations.
We are the ones who talk to one another on the really bad days.
Reminding one another that although it will not be like this forever,
and it may seem like the world has forgotten us,
we are not alone.
Our kids are not alone.

We, too, have stories to share.

And it is those past stories of resilience that we are speaking to the future generations right now
so that we still carry hope for tomorrow.
You see.
Whether or not you know it,
you have taken us with you before.

This is not new to us.
We have metaphorically and tangibly
watched from the window before.
Don’t feel sorry for us.
Pity is merely guilt beautifully robed in arrogance at worst, ignorance at best.

So, perhaps
perhaps just this once
remember me.
Remember us.
Take us with you as you enter the world,
masked.