Just memories for Mothers’ Day. Mother used to tell us six children that when her time came, she would expect us to send her off on her own ice flow. She had read somewhere that Canada’s northern aboriginals, the Inuit, did that with aged members who were no longer useful to the tribe. Luckily for her, she made it to her 97th year and passed peacefully in a pleasant, well run long-term care facility.
That was more than 20 years ago. She had lived through the Spanish Flu as a teenager and young adult in Chicago. What she would have made of covid-19, we can only guess. It probably would not have appealed to her as a way to cull the herd.
And that is the way this pandemic presents. Reading the world-wide reports on covid-19, a common thread is that long-term care facilities in many countries are the killing ground. It is costing us far too many of the old and infirm in our societies.
Covid-19 is not only a nasty way to die but it is also a lonely death. People in personal protective equipment bustling around trying to do what they can, just do not cut it. Despite their valiant efforts, there are no warm and fuzzy feelings in that scene.
The wife and I are both in the cross-hairs for this pandemic. Age and health conditions are on the wrong side of the ledger. Luckily, we are quite comfortable where we are self-isolated and with each others’ company. We are catching up on our reading and very bad television.
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Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry
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