The Madill Record
My mother, 87, and my father, 92, contracted Covid in the fall of 2020. They had been self-isolating at home since the spring, even avoiding attending church. An old friend of my mother’s called and asked for her help to can some green tomato relish.
Unknown to her, the friend was carrying covid. A couple of days after my mother helped can the relish, the friend called mom and told her that she was sick, and that my parents should get tested. My mother and father went off to the urgent care and got a positive test. They called me on Thursday nightandbySundaytheywereboth down sick.
I went to help them and became their only caregiver for the next 36 days. Both mom and dad become extremely sick. Dad was in one bedroom and mom in another with me moving back and forth to try to take care of each of them. I spent my time with the fear that both my parents could die at any moment and the anxiety that I might become sick myself and be unable to help them.
It became so bad that we called the ambulance three times for my mom. Each time the EMT showed up, checked them out, and said the samething:theycouldnottakemom to the hospital because there were no beds available.
Mom and dad survived Covid that fall but it made all their other health problems worse and shortened theirremainingtime.Through the experience, we learned who we could rely on for help in time of need.
Churchmemberswhoprayedfor our health but also provided needed help in the house and running errands for our family. Neighbors who riskedtheirownhealthtophysically help when mom fell out of bed and others who brought nutritious soup to keep us going. Family members who stayed in constant contact offering much needed moral support and advice even from a distance.
I have heard the idea that you cannot rely on government to help you, but that idea has never proven truer than when our family needed help. We could not count on overwhelmed local health workers, the state department of health just bugged us with phone calls for reporting, and federal healthcare like the VA didn’t want to see us. I am thankful to the church members, the neighbors, and our family for everything they did. Thanks to all of them. Know who you can rely on.
Keith Denslow Talala, OK