Victims of the Black Death being buried at Tournai, then part of the Netherlands, 1349. The Black Death was thought to have been an outbreak of the bubonic plague, which killed up to half the population of Europe. From the ‘Chronique et Annales de Gilles le Muisit’

Can you imagine the terror people felt in London in 1665 as the Bubonic Plague wiped out populations? It was a horrid, agonizing killer carried by rats, transferred to fleas which jumped to humans. The more crowded the area, the more death, and the crowded populace was poor. It abated somewhat in colder months when the fleas were killed off. And then the Great Fire of London of 1666 killed off many of the rats.

It was a terrible epidemic. But make no mistake, we are in the midst of another one.

My neighbors, a few doors down, have a baby. The husband was a strong, robust young man. Until he went to work and contracted the Corona Virus from a fellow worker.

I received an email from the director of my mother’s building: there is a case of Corona Virus.

My mother has been calling me to report that her lunch, which usually arrives at 11:30, is late. The other day it came up at 2:00 pm. She complains she is hungry, she is annoyed as hell.

My mother knows what is going on in the outside world but she is clueless as to how it affects her daily life. She heard on TV that the very elderly should get special treatment and she wants to know where her special treatment is. In other words, why is she the one with the late lunch?

So I had to lay it on the line. Here is my spiel.

“You know there is an epidemic. You know PEOPLE ARE DYING. People are risking their lives everyday to come to work to take care of YOU. There is a shortage of workers. NO ONE is allowed to eat in the dining room. EVERYONE is eating in their rooms. That’s over 300 meals that must be delivered. YOU are not the only person waiting for a meal.  You have lived through the Flu Pandemic of 1918, the Great Depression, World Wars 1 and 2. THIS IS AN EMERGENCY! Learn patience. You have a load of Ensure, drink one. And wait.”

“What am I supposed to do, starve?”

“You won’t starve, you have Ensure.”

“I also have part of my lunch from yesterday, I’ll eat that. With an Ensure.”

“There you go.”

And then her bottom line. “YOU have people with you, YOU are not alone. When the aides leave I have no one, I get scared. I have no one to talk to.

“We are all scared, Ma. We all have to do the best we can.

She seemed to be a bit appeased. And then: “I told my doctor I don’t want to die in the hospital. I want to die in my bed.” This is hard to hear but likely what we all feel. A 102 year old person knows the end is near. But those of us who are younger, significantly younger but still vulnerable, don’t want to think about it and yet everyday it is pushed in our faces, too close for comfort. We wriggle in our seats in front of the news and bite our lips. We silently pray and make pacts with God. We wonder if the driver of the car service we were in a few weeks ago was a virus-harborer. We think about what we touched, if we washed our hands, when the Lysol spray will run out.

There is a moral here: listen to the voice of reason: People before money. Safety before jobs. Distance yourself— from the voice of insanity. Believe in science. Make the right call.

And don’t be old and alone.

This series starts here:
Part 1: And The Band Played On … a mother’s life, a daughter’s journey

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