By Rosie Preston
In dedicating this article to the thousands of American citizens suffering from the coronavirus, I must say that I now understand their hopelessness.
It had been only a few minutes when the call came from my mom’s nursing home. Allow me to return to March of this year when the nursing home shut down and families of residents could no longer visit their loved ones.
For at least 14 years I have been the daughter who was not working and was therefore ready to take on the job of keeping a watchful eye on my mother. Through it all, I truly believed I would be ready when she left this world to a world of eternal peace. I imagined a beautiful and peaceful place that is often referred to as Heaven. One of my pastor friends said that those people will be in paradise. Others are comforted in believing that their family member is in a deep sleep.
My mind is rushing like a flowing creek after several days of rain. In my heart, I must believe that whatever one we believe may happen, we want to think of our loved ones as whole and healthy.
It was a lost feeling when I heard from one of my sisters who had no choice but to look through a window at our precious mother’s last moments of life. I wanted to go, but I’m in quarantine. It was the day before when my 14-year-old granddaughter had been tested for COVID-19.
On the morning when I found my granddaughter’s test was positive, I received a call from my mom’s facility that her family should come. I couldn’t go because I was sick. So, within a period of just about three hours, my life was changed forever.
My sisters and I share a common bond that will never go away. Our lives have gone in several directions as we got married, had children and worked, never realizing how quickly those years would fly by. Even though we’re very different in many ways, nothing can take away our memories of living with our parents and sharing a home.
Our mother passed peacefully, and I am glad that she is no longer sick and not seeing her daughters for about five months.
Stay safe, obey the rules and let’s get this terrible virus in control.
Keep smiling, Rosie
The journaling book is in progress, so send your stories to rosie.preston@yahoo.com.