people

Father’s day

Father’s day has never been my favorite. I never feel like I can say that since I know there are people out there who have lost their dads, and I also know there are people who are close with their dads who are still here. My dad and I have an improved relationship now that I have been out of the house for about six years now, but it’s still not my favorite.

I do love my dad, but I cannot say that I really like him entirely. I’d like to say I have forgiven him for what he’s done in the past, but that’s probably a lie and I definitely haven’t forgotten. I don’t sit and dwell on the past anymore like I used to, but I also won’t pretend that my dad was a great parent.

Apparently in my younger years he was very involved and happy to be around me, but once I turned seven everything changed. My dad’s cousin brought us a computer for my seventh birthday, and although it was for me, my dad said it was for him. I was able to use the computer sometimes, but for the most part my dad got lost in music and MySpace. When he’d get home from work, he’d go right to the computer and stay there for the remainder of the evening.

Another thing that happened was my grandpa (mom’s dad) died when I was seven. This sent my mom spiraling into alcoholism which my dad willingly followed her. My parents drank every single night, and although this was to “help my mom sleep,” instead it left me with restless nights of listening to their drunken rages against each other. The weekends were always worse because the drinking started earlier.

I’m now twenty-five, and they still drink every night. Luckily I moved out at 19, and it took time to stop the obsessive worrying about if my mom was okay or not, but now I know it is not my problem and there is nothing I can do about it. People will only change if they want to. Not once have they tried to get sober, and I hope they realize that this will have quite an effect on them once I decide to have children, because I cannot trust them to watch my child with their alcohol addiction.

Recently during a phone conversation, my mom tried to tell me that my dad “was nice for the most part,” to which I simply told her that was not true. I reminded her of the time where during an argument my dad screamed at me and said “who pays for the health insurance that you’re about to need if you don’t shut the f*ck up.” Of course she didn’t remember this (as they both are always drunk) and started apologizing. The intention was not to guilt trip, I was simply stating a fact.

Just because I have grown up and done well with my life, doesn’t mean that we can just pretend the traumatic shit that happened didn’t happen. Yes, I have moved on and the relationships have been civil, however that does not erase history. I don’t really prefer to talk about what happened with my parents, because my dad lives in denial and my mom lives in guilt; it’s not worth having a conversation over.

Despite everything I have been through, I did see my dad for father’s day, and I also gave him a gift that I made him which he appreciated. I do wish that he would do some self-reflection and realize what he did and how he needs to change, but at the same time it’s not my problem.

I’m not getting vaccinated (yet)

There seems to be some stigma going around those who aren’t getting the Covid-19 vaccine. I’ve seen posts on social media of people making fun of those who aren’t getting it saying things like: “people aren’t getting the vaccine because they don’t know what’s in it but then go eat hot dog” or “so glad I got my vaccine, I can’t even feel the chip!” and so on and so forth.

Honestly, I have a sense of humor so I find these to be funny, but I also am aware that because I am not vaccinated and am choosing to wait longer that people will judge me for it. I honestly don’t care that people are judging me or making assumptions about be, but I do know that not all others are comfortable in speaking up about not getting the vaccine. I wish people would just remember that we’re all individuals with our own rights to our bodies and we as adults can make these decisions for ourselves.

For myself personally, I do not feel comfortable getting the vaccine just yet. I am young and healthy, and have been blessed to not be severely affected by Covid-19 this past year. I am aware this is NOT the case for everyone, and that there have been deaths because of this virus, but again I have to make the choice for me, and I can do so based on my experience even though it hasn’t been the same experience for everyone. I also wear my mask in public, and if I were to ever get covid I would follow guidelines and quarantine because I know everyone reacts so differently to the virus.

This vaccine is very new and the most effective ones use mRNA, which is different than all of the other vaccines I’ve had before. According to studies and science, it is rare to have adverse reactions and there is no concern about future fertility problems, but just like the virus, everyone’s body reacts differently. Please also keep in mind I haven’t had an annual flu shot in at least ten years simply because I don’t find it necessary in my current state of health. I also didn’t get the HPV vaccine when that was new and still refuse to get it as I know someone who’s sister became paralyzed shortly after receiving it.

I want to mention that I have not attempted to have children yet, and have always had this fear that I may have fertility problems. I know that the CDC website says there’s no evidence to show the vaccine would have any effect on future fertility, but it would be difficult for me if I were infertile and they couldn’t explain why, because I’d always have it in the back of my mind “was it because I got the vaccine?” “did I do this?” I know that being young and healthy, I’d have extremely high chances of surviving covid, and for me I’d rather take the risk of getting Covid than the vaccine (at least at this point in time).

Now, I am not saying I will never get the covid vaccine, but I would like to wait a bit longer to see more data. I recently came across an article about how Pfizer was sued for $2.3mil in 2009 for basically not adequately reporting the adverse reactions of medications to the FDA. In high school I also did a project on anti-depressants and learned a lot about the FDA and how they’ve let tens and thousands of people die from “approved” medications before taking it off the market years later. I don’t think it’s crazy to want to wait longer than a few months to see how people react to the different vaccines.

I will never discourage anyone from getting the vaccine. I totally understand why people are getting it, and am so happy for my friends who are excited to get it! I feel like we all have our own choices as adults, and people should be more open to conversation about why people are choosing to wait to get vaccinated. If you don’t want to hang out with me because I’m not vaccinated, that’s literally fine with me! I truly just don’t like the idea of people being shamed for not getting vaccinated, and I don’t like seeing the media use fear tactics to convince someone to get the vaccine; we are all free to make our own choices.