#MaskingForAFriend

Yesterday, I had my consultation for my wedding dress alterations in Portland. At the end of the appointment, the seamstress wished me well in planning my wedding during this horrific pandemic. She added that, last week, she had a bride come in for a fitting, who mid-appointment sat on the floor in defeat and began sobbing. She said the bride then tearfully explained that she had just postponed her wedding for the third time because of COVID and the continued rise in cases this month.

“It is so infuriating,” the seamstress concluded, “that the majority of us have to suffer because people refuse to comply and just wear a mask.”

Let me be clear:

I am all for protecting our freedoms and constitutional rights that so many have died to protect. And when this pandemic first touched down in the U.S., the thought of being forced to wear a mask every day seemed terrifying and demeaning.

However, we are currently caught in the middle of a situation where we need to make a decision. We need to decide what kind of people we want to be.

Do we want to be selfless or selfish?

Do we want to do all we can to protect our health and the health of those around us, or do we want to risk it all because we are afraid?

Do we want to save our jobs and businesses, or watch in horror as the government shuts everything down once again because cases continue to rise?

Do we want to continue to be part of the problem, or do we want to try to be part of a possible solution?

Trust me. I hate wearing a mask just as much as the next person. I get headaches, smeared lipstick, and a nose that itches like something fierce because my hair gets caught inside my mask.

But I wear one because, thus far, it is the only option given to me that has potential to turn around this hellish nightmare called 2020.

I wear a mask because I want my airline (and my job) to still be here in thirty years, and the hard truth is that people won’t fly if they don’t feel safe.

I wear a mask because, even though I am young and have a fairly strong immune system, I want to protect those around me who do not.

I wear a mask so my friends’ parents can keep their small business open, and for all of the mommas-to-be who are facing the possibility of giving birth alone while their husband and support system waits anxiously in another room.

I wear a mask to protect your parents who are over 60, and your family member who is disabled and compromised.

I wear a mask so I can still, Lord-willing, have my wedding next March with everyone I love present, and for the thousands of other brides who are battling the same emotional roller-coaster.

I wear a mask to protect the people and things you love and hold dear.

I beg you to please wear a mask for mine.