[IMA-HelenT]

The link to the clip in X https://x.com/i/status/2011143716682285402

[lavitavegas]

My husband and I escaped NYC in 2021. We were “essential heroes” whom everyone rattled their pots and pans and blew horns for outside their windows– usually during the scant hours when we were trying to get our sleep (my husband worked night shifts AND day shifts).

But those very same people making the racket from their windows are the folks who called people like US “grandma killers” and “sociopaths” who wanted us to never be admitted to a hospital if we needed, and certainly wouldn’t want to eat at a restaurant with us. We were told by everyone including the president that this was a pandemic caused by US and that winter would bring our deaths. A friend of. mine was let go from her dog-walking duties by folks who didn’t want her coming into their lobbies to pick up their dogs because she refused to get vaccinated.

And so, because we refused to get vaccinated, that was the end of my career in health (I was an occupational therapist), and my husband put his 2 weeks in ending on the very last day he had before he had to show proof of vaccination to keep his job.

He took the last train out of the city, met me and the dog in NJ, we jumped in the car and drove with the clothes on our backs, no home and no job… and our savings ravaged by the pandemic’s economic hits.

Now… truth be told:

Our lives are now infinitely better because of the move, but two things still strike me:

1) Honestly, there’s nowhere that’s safe from the current nightmare we’re living: lines being drawn across our skies (and especially the sun) daily– and globally (I have friends in Europe who report the very same); the constant barrage of toxins into our food supply (human grade and animal grade); and laws and rules changed at the whim of whomever is elected. You can only run so far, ultimately “it’s a small world” and we’re all on it/ in it together.

2) No one… even NYCers (many of whom either hid out in their cushy apartments in the sky with their cushy remote jobs, or who fled to the boroughs, the Hamptons, Upstate and other tri-states) have NO IDEA what actual hell we went through before we left. The city was a nightmare of explosions, gunshots, crime, and 3 hour waits to get into a grocery store (at all hours, on all days)… and yes, this was on the Upper West Side. I have PTSD, and I feel like no one really understands the depth of what we escaped. I know that to others this might sound extreme, but I feel like a holocaust survivor who is now expected to let bygones be bygones and just continue on with life getting along with everyone and forgetting that everyone wanted me dead. I have been gaslit by people who “visit” NYC or who weren’t workaday sorts like my husband and I who say “oh it wasn’t THAT bad” or “Oh, it’s not like that anymore!” and it makes me nauseous.

Anyway… that being said… would we move because of laws/ mandates. YES. YES, we DID. But increasingly, we may find ourselves with nowhere to move to next time.

[IMA-HelenT]

Thank you for sharing your story, and your guts to just make that move happen.

I concur it’s a small world now that it seems most governments are working in lockstep. We moved and love our new life because we now live in a sunny climate and that light and warmth make me a happier person, but we miss the grandchildren and the familiarity of local places. It helps I think that we often moved when I was a child, so I have never been afraid of change.

What do you like most about where you are now, and what made you choose it?

[lavitavegas]

Thanks for reading my story 🙂

I told my husband to pick our new location because he had never lived anywhere but NYC his entire life, while I have lived many many places, both in the US and abroad.

He chose Las Vegas, and it sort of makes sense: much like Old Times Square (used to be) Vegas truly is the city that never sleeps, there’s GREAT food here, lots to do, and yet all that excitement comes with the ease of suburbia if you’re not directly on the Strip itself. He couldn’t be happier.

I am grateful for the QUIET, for not fearing for my life, and for the tranquility of our own space and sunlight/ a pool that is our own. My nervous system has a long way to go in the recuperation department, but it has the chance to out here.

[vegandan]

If home schooling and private schooling is not an option then my response would be to simply force the state to take me to court to compel compliance then sue the state for any health related issues. But if the state was that much of a problem I would probably want to move to another state more in line with my political views. It’s always a balancing of competing issues when making a decision where to live.

[IMA-HelenT]

And if many did this, the state would start to back down I would think.

[gnobis]

Living in California, we see governments (state, county, and city) that trample our rights, such as continuing to promote vaccines for kids (and others). While we work with non-profits to attempt to influence legislation (or to sue in court), we are concerned for the future and have wondered about moving out of state, mostly to Tennessee.)

If anyone cares to comment on living in Tennessee (or any other state)and its respect for individual rights, including medical freedoms, please comment. So far, we hear mostly good news about Tennessee. (first place to buy IVM OTC and a few notable people have moved from CA to TN, such as the CEO of InNOut Burger.)

[cattlerancher]

Absolutely, I would move. Knowing what we know today the. Lifetime of damage to my child is not worth staying. Option one which is the one I would take I would move my whole family out of Connecticut and never go back to the rotten state again. Option two would be to remove my wife and children from the state to a nearby location and another state to which I can visit on weekends.

[IMA-HelenT]

Thanks @cattlerancher , yes I feel the same way, that second option could help people that just need time to make the forever move.