Text Only

Think about the people closest to you. Tell us about how the coronavirus has affected them, and their life.

<strong> My parents live four hours away from me and my mum has to take care of my dad</strong> whose health is deteriorating quicker than I could have ever imagined.<strong> He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at the start of the pandemic and two other diagnoses joined a couple of weeks ago. My mum is entirely alone with this situation</strong> and has to plan out each day and think for two. And while she is one of the strongest women I know, she's been struggling a lot. Anger, guilt, regret, no love, responsibility. We're on the phone every day which might be a lot but it keeps us both sane. And<strong> since they are both fully vaccinated already, they'll come up to Berlin next week to visit me. Since September last year, I haven't seen them,</strong> and<strong> being apart from each other for the first time on Christmas was a huge downer.</strong> Hurray for digitalization, so we could have a virtual Christmas dinner. I remember that we had a huge fight before because I refused to visit and didn't allow them to come up. My mum cried so much that she hung up the phone. But I had to be strict. For the first time, I felt the responsibility to be the strong one. Reversed roles, a huge test.<strong> But I am happy I stood my ground. So many people got infected because they couldn't stay away from each other during Christmas..... it was the height of the second wave after all.</strong> But things are looking up and my parents come to visit next week, as I said.<strong> It'll be a huge relief to see each other again while at the same time I am anxious about seeing my father again</strong>. He aged so much during the past year.... and I felt so useless, not being able to help.... while at the same time I was relieved I couldn't help. Is this normal? My mum's a hero. She's doing everything to keep my dad out of a retirement home, out of the hospital, out of harm's way. Whenever I feel down, her attitude, her way of coping with things, gives me strength.