A memory just popped up: When my older boy was born, his sister was at home relapsed with cancer and just out of the hospital PICU with RSV. They could not see one another for 2 weeks and I had to wear a mask each time I held him. 1/4

I hated that mask and worried it would somehow scar or traumatize my infant to not see my face, only a mask. But I wore the damn mask. Every day for 2 weeks until we got clearance to not wear a mask. I wore it not for me, but to protect my baby. Because a doc told me to. 2/3

Had totally forgotten that period of wearing gowns and masks in my own home to protect a newborn that had an immature immune system from a sister with RSV and her own compromised immune system. 3/4

And the point of this thread is that all of this is a memory now, forgotten. In the moment, the mask was uncomfortable, a burden, scary. But it was temporary. Necessary, but time limited. Maybe even overkill, but why risk it?

Wear your mask. Someday they will be a memory.