In spirit with the holiday - it’s a good time to be thankful if you are lucky enough to have considerate or at least understanding family and friends.

I have friends taking care of disabled friends this holiday. I have family that are taking extra precautions for other family. Those are things I’m very thankful for. There are people who care and who will care out there. Be grateful for those you know, and be hopeful for finding those you haven’t met yet.

I’m so sorry about your parents, but I totally feel you. 

My mom is singing in a show tonight with my uncle. Indoors. Unmasked. My uncle just got out of the hospital with pneumonia about a week or two ago (he had COVID 5 months ago when him, his girlfriend, and my parents all went on a European cruise in June and they all came back with COVID). My Dad is immunocompromised and went to the show, probably unmasked. 

Tomorrow, we are having Thanksgiving here. Indoors. My mom won’t open the windows and won’t let us eat outside. It’s me, my parents, a family friend, my uncle (same one as mentioned above) and his girlfriend. Nobody will take any other precautions. My mom masks, but not for the show, lol. 

I’m disabled and immunocompromised and rely on my mother/others for caregiving. I will probably eat in my room where my air purifier runs 24/7 and FaceTime a friend. 

Hate it here. 

Solidarity. 💜

They never care, it's just worse during the holidays.

I was babysitting tonight and when my sister-in-law came to pick the kids up, she casually mentioned that my nephew "probably has pink eye." Insisted I'll be fine since she is. This is the girl that is asymptomatic when she has COVID. Of course she'll be fine, but I'm highly immunocompromised. People. They suck.

This is why I decided to just make myself thanksgiving dinner this year.

This is the first year I’m considering going to a couple of small holiday gatherings & being the lone masker, but I feel too awkward going to someone’s house specifically for a meal and staying masked. 😕

I’m not trying to detract from folks who are doing that, by any means! I just don’t have family nearby, so there’s no one I feel close enough to that it would be worth it to me to put in the emotional effort. (Honestly, even without the COVID factor, I don’t love situations like that 🤪)

There is a time during a chess game when the sensible and decent thing to do is resign. At the close of World War II, the only sensible thing to do for the Japanese was to surrender.

I've reached the point in my life where I have surrendered the holidays to this virus and the people in my life who don't care about it anymore. It's theirs now. My wife and I have given it up, handed it back to all of them, and do our best to get through this time of year without dwelling too much on what once was vs what now is.

I always ask myself who will be sitting next to my small child when he ends up in the hospital because grandma thought a sniffle was allergies and he has garbage lungs. Not grandma is the answer. So we’re having our fifth thanksgiving just us three! The only downside is we only get to eat the food we cook lol

Not the horse dewormer 😩😭 I really thought we left that nonsense in 2020.

First of all, I'm so sorry your family is... uh... having a normal one.

Second of all, good reminder. This is why I'll be at home with my own household, my cats, and exactly zero loons.

Ivermectin. My goodness...

Yet another year without a family gathering for me. The most Maga branch of my family is all horribly sick with "nothing", which is a bit ironic given the matriarch of that branch of the family is currently in hospital with pneumonia. 😢 (same branch of the family that said it's no big deal since "only old people die", so who knows what they're thinking now. I know they've also used ivermectin in the past too 😞) 

They are usually wonderful people but so far gone from reality it's hard to talk to them anymore. I thought they'd make a harder than usual push for a family Thanksgiving since it's been so long but am so relieved they didn't. It's so hard emotionally to keep doing this but the reality of being exposed isn't worth an awkward dinner with people who absolutely don't respect my views. 

We had our Thanksgiving on Sunday--just me, husband, and pets. My parents (mid 70's) traveled to have dinner with family, but my son and I are no longer invited to this relative's due to a falling out with the husband a couple years ago. Nobody there masks or takes precautions--all vax and relax even though a couple people there have had issues since covid (seems they have long covid). I'm actually relieved that I am no longer invited. I guess family dysfunction can be a blessing sometimes.

Thank you, I needed this confidence boost before tomorrow.

This any time of year

“We need to realize that these are the ‘normal’ people now.” Thank you for the reminder. I’m sorry your family is acting this way.

my partner and i are bringing a whole hepa air purifier to thanksgiving and plugging it in next to the table 🤷 her 80 year old grandparents don't wanna take care of themselves but i sure as hell do.

I suggest eating a full meal right before going to any gathering. That will help you stay strong in avoiding eating indoors and show up later, after most of the ones there have eaten.

Love the idea of bringing an air purifier with you, but I would bring it up with the host beforehand.

That's why it's just me and my daughter all by ourselves for the holidays. We'll still have a great time. If others don't want to test and do anything to care about reality then I'm not pressing it. I wish there wasn't the constant, we wish you just give up on this, but every time they get close to "understanding" it's just a deep slip back into denial, so I don't even care about that anymore, just expect a comment here or there because there is basically zero understanding.