As I was on my daily constitutional today (amidst polar winds and swirling snow), I passed a lengthy line of men outside the new artisanal chocolate shop in my neighbourhood. As I moved onto the street to maintain physical distance between the shoppers and myself, I found myself thinking about all the mothers who will face Mother’s Day during this extraordinary pandemic, COVID-19.
I thought about mothers of children with disabilities who are without the essential service of the personal support workers who come to their home every day to help care for their children. I thought about homeless and under-housed women who are struggling to stay healthy and warm without the comforts of a home and family. I thought about the mothers and grandmothers who will spend Mother’s Day alone, unable to enjoy the physical delights of hugs and kisses even if they’re lucky enough to live in the same city or town. I thought of the essential health care workers – physicians, nurses, personal support workers and others – who will spend Mother’s Day on the front-lines of the battle against COVID-19 – separated from their families and risking their lives to save others. I thought of the mothers and grandmothers in long-term care facilities, who are unable to see or touch or talk with their daughters and sons and grandchildren.
For those women in long-term care facilities, their lives on this Mothers’ Day are particularly precarious. The pandemic has revealed the appalling conditions in long-term care homes across this country, where COVID-19 has killed so many elderly, vulnerable people. Reports of people dying alone, gasping for breath, calling out for help, are unbearably devastating, as families wait outside, hoping for news, for a glimpse of their loved ones at the window. These women are our mothers and grandmothers. Despite our best intentions, they may well be us in the not so distant future, no matter how well we have planned.
The plight of these women and men in long-time care reveals the tremendous lack of regard our society holds for the elderly. It is the result of decades of neglect, under-funding, and greed in a society that values expediency and money above human lives.
It is my hope on this Mother’s Day that we will wake up to the tragedy that is happening to our elders in long term care. I hope it will remind people of the invaluable work that is performed by personal support workers every single day. Perhaps it will force our governments to ensure that these workers receive a living wage commensurate with the essential human service that they perform. And I hope it will remind us all of the tremendous toll COVID-19 is taking on the most vulnerable people in our society.
This Mother’s Day I will remember my mother who died nearly 14 years ago, who was fortunate to be cared for in the final years of her life by personal support workers in a small facility where she was seen as a whole person in spite of the ravages of a brain aneurysm. I will think of how fortunate I am to see my daughter and grandchildren at a distance of 6 feet and my younger daughter and her 14 month old daughter via the wonders of technology.
And though it seems insignificant in the face of this pandemic, I will send donations to the services that support mothers so that they too can survive these challenging times.
Read Full Post »
Hospice Volunteering 