April 2020 Part 1: Life in the Era of Coronavirus

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

April, 2020 has been rough on pretty much everyone. People are struggling with physical and mental health, employment and income issues, family logistics and many other things.

Back in March, my sister and brother-in-law called to talk about our mom. She's over 80 and lives in a nice apartment nearby. She has an active social life and is very independent. But, they asked, what would happen if visitors weren't allowed in her building? What if, like a cruise ship, someone in the building got sick but nobody was allowed to leave?

We discussed the scary possibilities and agreed: we needed to get Mom out of there as soon as possible. From a logistics standpoint, it was more practical for my mom to stay with me and my family versus with my sister and hers. I talked to my husband and 22-year old daughter, and we agreed this was the right thing to do. My mom agreed as well; she has been with us since mid-March.

We are all so glad we made this decision. My mom's building currently allows no visitors. And, even though she has friends in the building, self-isolation guidelines indicate that she wouldn't have been able to see them even if she had stayed there.

We all get along and are making the most of the intense level of family time, viewing it as a unique opportunity to be together more than in any other circumstance.

I am so grateful to my brother-in-law for coming up with the idea, to my sister for contacting me to discuss it, to my husband and daughter for agreeing to the plan and being flexible with the new arrangements, and to my mom for saying yes to uproot her life in order to protect it.