Just a Mom in Michigan during the 2020 Virus Crisis

I am just a mom that lives in Michigan.  I am not a doctor, I am not a scientist.

But like most Americans, I feel like my voice doesn’t matter, and I just want to use my space, this blog, to express myself for a moment.

This past winter, the winter of November 2019 to March 2020, was a very rough season for our family.  We have a small hobby farm, and before winter began we had about 200 birds, chickens, ducks, guineas, and turkeys.  We also, had two steers, and 9 goats, four of which were expecting come spring.  We also have several barn cats, two bunnies, and at the time three dogs.  Our animals were all very healthy and happy.

Then something happened, and daily our birds were dying and then a goat.  We called out the vet, and they were unsure of the cause, and it just was unclear what was going on.  MSU didn’t give us any real answers either.  But our birds continued to die day after day, and every couple weeks a goat would just suddenly die.  They would be fine one day and then dead the next.  It was horrible, and then one day we lost one of the steers, as well.  It was tragic and sad.  Then it happened, our family began to get sick.  We all got sick, over a matter of a month’s time. Some of us really, really sick, and others more mild.  Some of our close friends, also, got the sickness.  The head aches were off the chart painful. Our one son Stephen was sick for two weeks and looked like a zombie.  Our doctor said, it is just a virus going around.  He said, just let it run its course, and stay hydrated.

That is exactly what we did.

But the animals were still dying off about every two weeks.  MSU and our vet suggested we put them all down, and save ourselves the heart ache of waiting for them to die.  They still were unsure of the cause of the deaths.  We made the family decision to cull the flock of birds down to 30 birds, and if any goat or steer showed any signs of disease we would put it down immediately.  It was not a fun decision.  But one Sunday morning, the boys and I butchered all the remaining birds except for 35 or so.   MSU adviced us NOT to eat them, and so we buried them all.  We closed off the chicken yard and coop, and moved the remaining birds to a clean coop and yard.  We cleaned out the stalls and moved the remaining steer in with the goats.

It took about two weeks, but the death count finally stopped growing.  The animals all seemed to recover, and milk and egg production returned.  During this epidemic on our farm, the animals did not produce any eggs or milk.  We lost two pregnant does, our buck, a steer, and one of our does miscarried her kids, and we lost over 150 birds.  Our doe that miscarried, is still under weight and very sad, she lost her life companions.  We are hopeful, she will fully recover.

Why am I telling you this story?  What does it have to do with the COVID-19 crisis?

Everything.

Yesterday, I went to see my doctor, a routine visit due to my ongoing health condition.  He is our family doctor, and he told me, he is certain that our family already has the antibodies for COVID-19 or a variation of it, like many of his other patients that had the sickness back in the winter.

Yes, that is what my doctor said.

I was not surprised at all by my doctor telling me this, because Jeremy had said the same thing back in March, when all the newscasters started scaring people with the hyped up news and fear mongering.  But what I was surprised to find out from my doctor was how much the hospitals get paid for every diagnosis of COVID_19 and for every patient they put on a ventalator.  How can we get accurate numbers if doctors are encouraged to over diagnosis a sickness?  If you don’t beleive this is true, google it.

I love my family, I want my parents to live long, long, long lives, and I want people to be healthy and safe.  But I don’t want people to live in fear.

I don’t want people to fear this sickness, or any sickness.  I don’t want people to fear the government.  I don’t want people to fear their neighbors.  I don’t want my children to fear the law enforcement.  I don’t want people to be AFRAID.

I have a personal belief that fear is the number one cause of death.  Life and health is found in Messiah.  If you find you are afraid.  Then take out your Bible and start reading.  The hope and cure for everything is found in the Bible.

So, Do NOT be afraid, but of good cheer. Yehovah is with us and He fights for us.

Lastly, I am so tired of people judging others.  Stop comparing yourself to someone else.  If you think you need to wear a mask and gloves when you go out, then do it.  But don’t assume that the guy not wearing them is any less informed or compassionate than you are.  For all you know that guy already had COVID-19 and is immune to it.  He is carrying the antibodies.  Also, don’t judge that girl or boy that leaves their house every day.  For all you know they have to go care for a loved one, or they are suicidal, and going for a daily drive is keeping them sane.

People stop judging others.

Compassion and mercy are the key to all of us coming out of this tragic time stronger and smarter.

This is my blog post on my personal feelings about this crisis, it is not up for discussion.

I am just a mom in Michigan and this is my story.

Shalom to you and your home.

Written by Katie

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