The shut down from covid-19 has cost me much personally and my family has suffered many things as a result of the unconsitutional orders that have been imposed upon the people in the name of “safety”. We should be able to take the precautions that we feel are needed without government overreach and mandates. We did not vote for them to take this kind of power unto themselves.
My daughter was planning her wedding when the orders came. Because of the lock down, she ended up having to hold a small quick ceremony with just a few people. No temple sealing, no luncheon or reception, no honeymoon. Many family members and friends on both her side and his were heartbroken to be banned from celebrating their marriage with them.
My husband recieved a group email sent to all employees from the company he works for. It stated that even though their company was doing great, they had decided that as a precaution to prevent laying anyone off, they would be cutting the salary of all saleried employees by 10%. They said the change would last at least until January 2021 and maybe beyond. 10% is a huge cut! We just purchased a house in September 2019, and this cut has made things a lot more difficult financially for our family. We had to do a forbearance on our home loan for two months to keep from falling behind in other bills/expenses. Oh… and a few weeks later they announced that some people were being laid off anyway.
We pulled all of our investments out of the stock market due to the shut down to try to pay off some debt as quickly as possible. We were not sure how long the shut down would last or how it would continue to impact our finances and wanted to minimize our debt.
We had plans to finish our basement before my daughter’s wedding to give them a nice place to rent, but because of the financial issues, we were not even able to start the project. They are now living in an unfinished room in our basement because of this. They are currently unable to get their own place due to the current unstable nature of his job because of covid-19.
In Jan 2020 my husband and I were informed that we had won a Caribbean cruise from our realtor! We were so excited because we have always wanted to see ancient Mayan ruins. We planned it all out for the trip in April. We set up flights and hotel and had it all set. Then the trip was canceled so we had to reschedule it for August. I spent hours on the phone with the cruise line, hotel, and Delta working out the changes, only to be told a month later that they were canceling the cruises again until the end of September. I had to spend hours again canceling hotel and flights. I am now not certain that we will be able to actually go on our prize trip.
The shut down has caused much mental/emotional stess. There have been disagreements and turmoil between family members and friends who were very scared of the things the news was telling them and those who were not afraid and didn’t trust the news. So much hurt and heartache.
It caused rifts and breaks in relationships.
My children from my first marriage were not able to see their dad for months because he was afraid of contamination and refused to allow them to visit.
My kids have struggled because friends were not allowed to play and they were stuck at home for so long. They were not even allowed to use the park playgrounds because of caution tape that was placed around the equipment. We have not been able to go visit fun places with our kids like the Zoo or amusement parks.
My husband’s grandfather passed away from other causes than the virus. We were told we could not have a funeral. We all had to say goodbye at a small graveside service. It was heartbreaking.
We have been banned from attending church and from visiting the temples. These are places that bring peace and joy into our lives. Being banned from them has been very damaging to our peace and hope. It has been a struggle to keep from falling into despare and depression. We have done our best to hold church meetings with just our kids at our home, but it is not the same as when the saints are able to gather and feel the spirit together.
Then masks began to be pushed and things fell apart even more. Besides the fact that requiring masks is against constitutional rights, I am unable to wear one for more than a couole of minutes before I feel lightheaded and feel as if I might faint on top of feeling extream anxiety and panic. I know of several people just among my friends and family who have this same trouble and can’t wear a mask even if they wanted to. The words of the governor of Utah, saying things like: “If you love your neighbor, wear a mask.”, and “It is such a small sacrafice to save a life.”, are tailored to manipulate and shame people into complying. These kinds of sayings also encourge other people to persecute and be angry with people who don’t or can’t wear masks. It creates rifts and division.
I myself, and many friends and family that I know, will not go to any businesses that require us to wear a mask with no exceptions. This has made shopping for necessities a lot harder than usual and in some cases traumatic when denied entrance despite the CDC guidelines stating that those with breathing issues should NOT wear a mask. It is not a small thing to wear a mask when doing so causes anxiety and makes someone feel that they can’t breath.
We have lived in fear of what else the government of Utah would impose upon us despite the fact that the total deaths in Utah that have been listed as related to covid-19 are currently under 200 total. While every death from any cause is sad and we wish they could be prevented, more people die from many other causes than this small number that has been attributed to the virus. Nearly all of them were older people with other major health issues. We do not feel that this warrants shutting down the economy.
The lockdown from covid-19 has robbed us and pretty much everyone in the world of several months during 2020. We are very disappointed with how this situation has been handled and we feel that those who have imposed these unlawful restrictions and rules should be held accountable.
I won’t get into how much I feel covid-19 has robbed us of as country, because I am weary and overwhelmed with all the things that have been happening, but that is a whole other level of the harm it has caused us.
