Tonight I attended my daughter‘s HS graduation. We were the only masked family. And one kid. One girl. Had the guts to stand on stage & give a speech about long Covid. 1/

This kid spoke so eloquently to a maskless auditorium. She told the story of catching Covid early on in 2020. She struggled profoundly w/ LC and needed a wheelchair to return to school. 2/

As she spoke the noise level around me seemed to increase. People were chitchatting. I’m pretty sure few gave a shit. Few could open their hearts to understand & empathize w/ her struggle & celebrate 3/

Celebrate that she was giving the speech as one of the freaking valedictorians. In a movie, there would be a rousing standing ovation. In real life there’s lackluster polite applause. 4/