Corona Concerns

I first started worrying about my mom’s health when I was 8 years old. I’ve never stopped.

My mom suffers from several autoimmune disorders and before she had adequate treatment for them, it was really scary. Nobody ever told me they were nonfatal, and so I was constantly terrified that she was going to die because of how sick they made her and how weak she was from dealing with them. Once she had treatments to manage her symptoms, that terror went away, but the worry was never completely gone.

Now, I have legitimate reason to be concerned about my mom. She is immunocompromised in a time where that is really dangerous. Despite this, she is still the one who goes to the grocery store and runs errands, even though she’s the most likely to be strongly impacted by COVID-19 out of the people in my family. She always takes on a lot of work and has a lot of responsibilities as an administrator for a college that is transitioning to online learning, and I just hope the workload doesn’t negatively impact her health.

Due to my mom’s situation, I feel like I have a better understanding of the importance of social distancing in the face of a pandemic. By staying away from friends who I want to see more than anything, I’m keeping her safe. Even though it’s hard to not see anyone, it would be so much worse if my mom got sick because of my unwillingness to comply with what the city is mandating.

On top of that, I understand the value of maintaining rationality. I really understand people’s desire to stock up on various items, but I don’t think people realize how damaging that can be for others. My mom has had to go to more stores than should be necessary just to find items that she needs to deal with her illnesses. It isn’t only the elderly who suffer from stockpiling–people who are sick feel the loss just as much if not more.

If you are a person who is lucky enough to have two perfectly healthy parents, I hope you don’t take it for granted. If, however, you are like me…I understand the worry that you are experiencing. It isn’t easy to watch a parent suffer at any time, but when the stakes are higher it is downright terrifying. I genuinely believe that, as long as everyone works hard to maintain social distancing, we can all get through this relatively unscathed. So thank you to everyone who is doing your part, because you are helping keep my mom and so many others safe.