‘You do you and I’ll do me.’ My child, with the crap lungs and fragile liver, will pay the price.’: Mom with ‘forgotten child’ discusses selfishness in pandemic, ‘We expected nothing less’

“I’ve been over here, biting my tongue, watching the rants about masks, the parties, the complaints about children not being able to go to school. I’ve heard the phrase, ‘You do you, and I’ll do me,’ and choked on it repeatedly over the past few months, and stayed silent. Why? It’s simple. I’ve watched this type of selfishness manifest in the ugliest of ways for years, and I’ve lost hope my voice will make a difference.

You see, I have a forgotten child. One who is forgotten on most playgrounds, during flu season, when smoking outside in public places despite ordinances. One with a fragile liver and crap lungs who can’t afford to have ‘you do you’ in the middle of a pandemic, because it is her, unable to do her, who will pay the price.

We’ve seen countless rooms at children’s hospitals over the last few years, because the ‘little cough’ you sent your kid to school with landed mine in the hospital, unable to breathe on her own. We’ve seen the selfishness of this nation when we aren’t in the middle of a pandemic and expected nothing less from people when we are.

Yet we forge on, we wear the mask, we don’t let up despite downward trending death rates, schools opening, or ragers being thrown. We protect our forgotten child. We think of our forgotten grandparents, and we protect them, and you, at all costs.

Why you? You—throwing your parties, denouncing masks, calling me paranoid, and posting lowered death rates all over Facebook? Why you? Because even though you may have forgotten about her, we understand first-hand the death rate won’t matter and the virus won’t be a hoax, when it is your child or mother, grandmother, or best friend who becomes the forgotten one.

And for that, I not only won’t forget, but I won’t stay silent, either. Let us not forget it’s all fun and games until someone you love is sick or dying. Ya’ll don’t have to ask me to share this. PLEASE share. If Annabelle’s story causes one person to think about someone else during this pandemic, it’s worth it.”

This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Rachel Geib. Submit your own story here, and be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for our best stories, and YouTube for our best videos.

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