The Year We Were Forced To Stay Home

The twin year's unwelcome pain

My phone kept ringing  all day. My stepdad was trying to get to my mom but couldn't. He had to rely on news from my brother and I . He could not get any contact. . He worked in the state of California and my mom lived in New York. They had a weird living situation but hey  it worked for them.

He had his own situation dealing with so he had called to inform us of the turn in events. His loved one had just passed on and he wanted to relate the news to us. Could it get any worst?

Here he  was worried about his wife and to get the phone call this morning that he had never expected to hear that his father had just passed on. It was a lot on him. It was just the wrong time for anyone to die at this time.
With this ravishing disease Covid 19, the Prime Minister had stated that they should be no gathering of more than 10 persons now.We went from twenty persons to ten in a week because of the rapidness of the spread. Our tally was now 44 persons and 1 death.

The lavish funerals that some persons would request before their deaths were no more. It was either 10 persons including the preacher or cremation.

It was a sad time. This horrendous disaster was shaping our lives in all shapes and forms.
It was crippling not only our economy but also our livlihoods. Being distanced from our families and friends was not our culture. We enjoyed coming together and having a good time. We loved parties and dance sessions. We loved to sport and dress up in the latest fashions.
We were being crippled by this unforgiving disaster. We now had to wave to our friends.  We couldn't greet or hug them. We couldn't visit anywhere
. Everything was now done in quarantined times. Our shopping,  Money transactions ,pharmacy runs were being curtailed.The govt started to use surnames for shopping days eg A-C on Mondays,D-F on Tuesday and so on. No one over 65 should be on the roads.
Only one person from each household could go shopping.  It only worked out for a week. It was too much congestion. It didn't matter what stategy was put in place, the crowds got worst. Our movements became restricted because the fear of contact tracing was heavy in our minds.

Our children had to be stuck in their homes. No more family outings. Imagine no beaches for the holiday. That drove us crazy. People were now afraid  to speak to each other. Stigmas were now being practised against the families of Corona patients. People began to fear, loose hope ,less faith. The elderly ,the vulnerable. No one was immune. It left us wondering . Who would be next?

The next phone call I got from my brother was a piercing pain to my heart. My mothers results from the hospital were back.

Forget the food poisoning  that she claimed she had gotten from the stewed peas. Forget the urinary tract  infection that the paramedics had diagnosed. Yet we will always remember the Tuesday when the doctors diagnosed  that
my mom was tested positive for the Corona virus.

To witness strangers getting this disease.  You sympathize. To witness persons you know getting this disease .You empathize. To witness your loved one getting this disease, struck fear in your heart.

With the death toll in the hundreds of thousands now. And New York of all places taking the lead from China, it  heightens that fear threefold when your loved one is now on the list of patients.
I can't recall any other emotion that night. I just knew I did not sleep at all.  I came to one conclusion immediately though. My uncle did not know he had the virus too. After all,  his wife fell victim unknowingly.

They all went to church in the same car on Sunday laughing and talking to each other. It meant that he needed to visit the hospital immediately.
It was troubling to note that with all the news briefings, The advertising, the media clips that all entailed details of the Corona virus and its symptoms,  my mom or uncle was not
displaying any similarities.  My mom lost her appetite first. Then she started having nausea, then she started having excruciating pain in her stomach and excessive diarrhea.  No shortness of breath. No tightness in the chest and no high fever.

Strange and dangerous. The word Asymtomatic was fluttering some where in my brain. I heard it on one of the news briefings but did not take any interest. I srambled for my phone and brought up the Google app and there it was. Asymtomatic-someone not showing the symptoms but is positive for whatever conditions they were being tested for.

Wow. I told my brother to inform my uncle and when he responded he did say he got some results that he had done earlier
and he too was tested positive.
This was too much for us at one time and most of all my grandmother who was on kemo therapy for bone  cancer. Then I remembered that my brother had stayed with my mother the Friday night. It was a troubling thought that he might have been impacted. He was the closest help my mother had to get anything of importance done.  I was trusting God that he was okay. This would be the worst that could ever happen. My mother lying in a hospital room with none to rely on.
For the next days it was a cat and mouse game. We dreaded when morning came what text would be sent to us.  Or if any would be sent at all. Was it another day of survival or would the news be hopeless. The waiting game pushed pressure on our hearts. All this time my smaller sibling was not aware of what was happening. He was closed off from phone communication while in training. I couldn't imagine telling him that our mom had... I forego the thought.

My stepdad now had two burdens. His dad had passed and his wife was positive with the dreaded virus. He was 62 years old and had to face the reality that he might never see his wife again. The had just renewed their vows and celebrated their anniversary not even two months yet. It would be a slap in the face if things turned for the worst. He was so looking forward to visiting her for the Easter period . He had already bought his ticket and had already began telling his friends and siblings about the impending trip from California to New York .
We breathe a silent sigh as each day pass and she was able to text us. She was not getting better though
. The pain in her stomach and nausea was now at the highest. The diarrhea had come back in full force and she was losing weight.The medications were not helping. She didn't know how much she could take were one of her last text to my brother.