begun to take on a much more serious turn. I have not been for a test - yet. I will if there is the slightest hint of a problem or any suggestion that the outbreak has spread to this side of the city.
So far, we are not able to visit the Senior Cat. The residence has gone into lock down. The Senior Cat, a worrier at the best of times, is going to be worrying even more than usual. I left his washing yesterday and added a letter telling him anything he needs to know...things like Middle Cat and I going to the garden centre. I told him I love him and that M..., who manages the place, was trying to find a way of us visiting.
M... will tell him that too but the Senior Cat needs to be reassured that we are all aware and working on it. When I was talking to M... he indicated that, for the other residents, it wasn't quite the same issue. One or two get a visitor once a week if they are lucky. Some might get one once a month, others get none. They have simply been "dumped" as one of the staff told me. I like her a lot. She is in her job for the right reasons - she wants to be there.
"Your father doesn't know how lucky he is getting so many visitors," she told me. I think he does. He sees that so many people don't get visitors at all. I wonder what happens at normal Christmas? Do they get an annual visit then?
Christmas is on hold. Nephew in the next state has not been home since before last Christmas. He was planning on being here but it might not happen. It might if they can sit on this outbreak and not let it escape further but I am not holding my breath. The Senior Cat and more than one elderly friend are trying to be philosophical about this but we all know that Christmas is precious at that age. How many more Christmas celebrations are you going to have in extreme old age?
We still haven't reached the levels of the neighbouring state or places like Europe or the USA. My cousin in London is back to working entirely from home. I worry about my friends there too. At least here we can go outside and have a socially distanced conversation with a neighbour without freezing. (Mind you, we might get a bad case of sunburn instead.)
Meetings have been cancelled, gatherings put off and more. There have been "urgent" conversations about football. I don't think football matters. A friend who was coming to lunch today is not coming. That matters more because she is lonely and needs company sometimes.
And old people really do need visitors. It doesn't have to be for hours at a time. That can tire them. They just need to know we care about them.
I think I might try and find a cartoon for the Senior Cat today. A good laugh might help all of us.
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2 comments:
You may feel football doesn't matter but having an interest in something outside ones self and the pandemic is very important for mental health, and for many people sports provides that. For myself, I read, I knit, but yes, I watch sports, and the pandemic was easier for me to bear when hockey and baseball were on television. The nights are much longer now that these are over. Don't underestimate the value of sports!
I think you misunderstand me - I know people enjoy it. Good on them if they do. But, in the greater scheme of things it is supposed to be a game. Any sort of sports match should not take priority over measures which might save lives. All too often here it is treated as something so serious and so urgent that anything at all which gets in the way is condemned. There were people here last summer who were up in arms over the cancelling of local tennis matches when the heat on the courts was 45'C!
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