Thread by @AynRandPaulRyan

What has the Trump virus taken from you?

150k+ people have died.
4M+ people tested positive.
50k+ people are newly diagnosed every day.

It didn't have to be this way.
(thread)

#TrumpVirus #AmericaOrTrump #tuesdaythoughts

What has the Trump virus taken from me?

I'm lucky. I've been disabled for many years and was isolated before #COVID19, so my day to day life has changed little.

Watching my husband and our 5 kids try to navigate Trump's new world has been awful. 2/

My youngest is almost 17. He has Aspergers. For years, I homeschooled him because he couldn't handle a classroom setting. With a lot of love and encouragement from the best public school teachers and counselors I've ever met, he started going to school and even mainstreamed.

3/

When the #TrumpVirus hit, he retreated back into his shell and I honestly don't know how to bring him out. He has no social interaction because, well, none of us do. He needs to be able to practice his social skills constantly if he's going to be independent someday. 4/

Two of our daughters are still in college. One is set to graduate in the fall, the other in the spring. There is a 0% chance we will be seeing any sort of fall graduation ceremony and not much of a chance for a spring one, either. All of their classes will be online...5/

for the foreseeable future. They are fine with their classes being online, and don't care much about the graduation ceremony, but they are super social people who can't do anything with friends. You know, like you did in your 20's. 6/

They are *extremely* worried about their job prospects when they get out of school. What will the world look like in a year when they are both job hunting? Will we still be at depression era-level unemployment? Will they have to move back in with their parents? 7/

My oldest daughter @madfigz graduated from college a couple of years ago and got her captain's license not too long after. After months off, she now takes out small groups (with masks, of course).

(Shameless plug: vote for her!) 8/

10best.com/awards/travel/…

But her real job and passion is acting. She's been pursuing an acting career (without my prompting because after my 20 years in the music industry, the last thing I wanted her to have to fight through was being in show business) since she was 8 years old...9/

and she had JUST started getting the really good parts, the kind of parts she'd been working for *years* to get, right when #COVID19 hit. All of the theaters closed. Stages went dark. And people far less lucky (and frankly, prepared) than she have been struggling to pay rent. 10/

Then there's my husband.

For months, he spent 12+ hour days in the ICU taking care of #COVID19 patients.

He left his practice (he's a sleep medicine specialist) in order to volunteer in the ICU because they were short-staffed. He watched people die without their families. 11/

He held iPads up so families could say goodbye to dying #COVID19 patients and watch their family members take their last breaths. He stripped off his scrubs in the garage and showered before coming up to see his family at night, if anyone was still awake. 12/

And we are the lucky ones.

No one in my family has died from COVID19.
As far as I know, no one has contracted it.

We are lucky to own our home.
We are lucky that my husband's job is secure.
We are lucky our kids are independent, smart, and resourceful.

And it still sucks. 13/

Imagine what it's like to live in a multi-generational household. Grandma can't go out or see anyone for fear of getting #COVID19, the kids and/or grandkids are essential workers, so there's always a threat that they will get sick or get grandma sick.

We have lost so much. 14/

You guys, the replies on this thread are breaking my heart.

I want to reply to everyone but I know I can't. If you have a minute, please find someone in the thread who is struggling and just let them know you see them.

Sometimes, that's all it takes.

https://twitter.com/AynRandPaulRyan/status/1288111148391206913?s=20