Editor:
COVID-19 is the invisible enemy that brought us all to a screeching halt in March 2020. The feelings, opinions and sometimes contradicting recommendations on how to deal with such an enemy were not always clear.
Yet in every crisis, we as human beings somehow find a way how to respond with a rational mind and pull together.
Meals were cooked and delivered, shelves with groceries stocked up, homemade masks sewn and distributed, parents juggling the altered households.
Doctors, nurses and hospital staff were prepared for the worst, following strictly the directives of the provincial officials.
I can not express enough appreciation and gratitude for all the frontline workers who never stopped working during these challenging times.
Last month, as I accompanied two women in their daily visit of their mother (free of COVID-19), who has been in the Canmore Hospital’s Acute Care since March due to an illness.
All I could think of was, how can we personally connect with our loved ones, should they be hospitalized during times like this.
Standing outside of the hospital window, holding mother's beloved dog in one hand, phone in the other, the daughter's emotions were stretched beyond imaginable.
Trying to connect over the phone with their mother to get some sense of her wellbeing, tears of frustration were mixed with the pouring rain. They lost connection three times.
The conversation was reduced to guess work, gestures and blown kisses only.
As we were leaving, Irene, fully aware, managed to wave with a smile. A faint "I love you" was echoed in the phone.
It has been eight long weeks since the daughters were able to visit and comfort their mother in person.
One daughter quietly said: "Mom is 90 years old, and I worry that she might die of a broken heart."
That day, I saw three broken hearts. Imagine if it were your mother.
Vladi Hudec,
Canmore
