I Don’t Get It
My sister is 2 1/2 years younger than me. We were close growing up. Played together, were in many activities together, rode to school together. We had your basic love/hate sister relationship but really became friends once we hit the college years. I’d cover for her when she stayed out late and I confided in her when I started drinking alcohol. She was maid of honor n my wedding and vice versa. We had kids around the same time and could swap stories about sippy cups and potty training. I had the friendship with her I’d always wanted.
That being said, we didn’t always agree on everything. Politics were a no no to bring up at Thanksgiving. She became much more conservative than me. Our mindsets changed. It happens when husbands and children enter the picture. We could agree to disagree and often picked on each other to avoid arguing. Things were good.
Then comes 2020. COVID. Masks. Social distancing. Avoid large crowds. Virtual learning. Protect yourself and your neighbor. Common sense to me. I stayed home, wore my mask, did my part. Once the shot came around, I got it as soon as possible. Job done, right?
Conversations with my sister became different. “I went to church today. No one wore masks.” “We went out to eat.” “We went on vacation.” These were words that were often texted to me as my big outing for the day was to Dollar General. I watched the news at night and saw people dying, in the hospital, sick for days. “I’m not going to get the shot because COVID is like the flu. The media has hyped it up” she’d say. I don’t get it. Seriously, I don’t. Our own grandfather died from COVID last fall.
My sister finally decided to get the shot and got COVID a week later. Thankfully, it was mild and she’s now refusing the second dose. She still swears the media has lied to us. I don’t want to lose my relationship with my sister, but it just makes me mad. It’s people like this that will keep spreading COVID, making things difficult for everyone else. I’m mad about COVID. I don’t want to be mad at my sister. But here we are.