Our first 4th of July here in Houston! We had a low key chill day. We decided to grab burgers at Sonic to make things easy, we made some special red, white and blue drinks, Ellie helped me make the fruit pizza, we did our own firework show and ended the night by watching the Patriot. It was a simply yet perfect day for our little family.
After watching The Patriot I was curious if we had family members in America during the Revoltionary War and we did! I've only gone through one line, my Grandpa D's mom line and found 2 guys who fought with the South Carolina Militia for the Revolutionary war, an ancestor who was hung in Salem during the witch trials and a slave owner. I going to continue through all my ancestrors to understand more of my American history that I didn't know. As I was looking through these people I was wishing I could hear their thoughts and perspective, especially the women.
We seem to be going through a pretty historic time with everything going on and I wanted to write down my thoughts and what this experience feels like, but I find myself almost frozen because there is so much to process that I can get overwhelmed. I find myself having to stop and just breath for a min because I tend to get caught up in it all trying to understand both points of view.
We have the issue of Black Lives Matter, Covid19, masks and a presidency election this November which is causing more heighten emotions I believe.
This pandemic is interesting because it's a new virus that scientists and doctors are still learning about. Information that came out at the beginning has evolved over time. At the beginning it seemed as if everyone was on the same page of trying to flatten the curve, stay home and be respectful to those who are high risk. New York turned into the hot spot. It was downright devastating the situation they were dealing with, understaffed hospitals and hundreds of dead bodies. Then there began to be a shift. Other places in America weren't experiencing the same panic, many people were getting it with mild to no symptoms which began a lot of questioning. How serious is this? Are people overreacting? Are masks necessary? Is this a plandemic and all a ploy? There are some very heated arguments about all of this. My perspective is this: I don't know how this virus will effect me or my family. We could be Asymptomatic with zero to mild symptoms OR it could kill us. There is no way to predict and there is no proven way to cure it. Texas is currently hitting between 8,000 to 10,000 cases a day. Pete has started working from home to avoid catching it and we are doing our best to just stay home. If we go out we are sure to wear our mask. My thoughts on masks are this: Perhaps scientists are wrong claiming the masks prevent the spread by 70%, but I'd rather put a piece of cloth over my face just in case instead of assuming it's worthless and end up killing someone because I was spreading the virus. I think it's respectful to wear it, but I'm not gonna be judgmental about it. Arizona and Texas had to mandate masks because numbers started to skyrocket and nobody was wearing a mask, the mandate has made people very offended that their freedoms are being taken away.
Black Lives Matter. George Floyd was murdered by a police officer and the country went crazy. I think the virus had everyone a little stir crazy and this just blew everything up. There have been riots peaceful and not peaceful, monuments torn down and destroyed and a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot and a lot of opinions, anger and uproar. I don't agree with the destruction of property but it caused me to reflect on what is causing this anger? Nobody wants to see a man killed wrongfully but where is this coming from? So I started researching and am embarrassed by how much I wasn't aware of. The systemic racism of red zoning, public education funding, the destruction of African American families and the incarceration rates are all things I wasn't aware of and I'm thankful for all the noise to help me listen and learn. I'm at the point though where I want us to recognize the problems and come up with a plan and move forward.
Then that brings us to the election... eesh... It's too much to think about right now. Pete is being furloughed next month unless the government provides a loan to keep them afloat. This is now the 2nd job Pete has had on the line due to Donald Trump and we just aren't a fan. We are currently trying to figure out what to do next month but thankfully have my parents to fall back on if needs be. I am very grateful that we have that privileged because I know many families are really struggling right now.
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