I yelled at my father today.
We live in a very small town and I have eyes (spies?) around town. My pals know I'm concerned about my father (83) and mother (81) because both of them have chronic conditions - heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Both are overweight. Full disclosure - so am I.
One of my pals mentioned she'd seen Dad out and about. I knew from conversations with my mother that it would be difficult for him to shelter in place during this time of COVID-19. I mean, he's a social guy. Rarely does a day go by that he doesn't go out tootling around town in his car, buying his lottery tickets, picking something up at the store, and driving by my house just for kicks.
But this is getting serious and I've asked him to stop going out just for kicks. I get it. It's tough. It's boring. It's isolating.
But Mom's health isn't great. She's had multiple heart attacks. Both of them caught every cold that passed this way over the winter. My kids and I still laugh at a mess of a Facebook Messenger video that included a wide shot up my mother's nose and both parents announcing that they were sick.
"We're sick here. We're not having any fun."
You don't say.
Today is their 60th wedding anniversary. I'm lucky to still have them. I'd like to keep them around to celebrate their 61st wedding anniversary.
"If you're out around people, you're bringing home germs and passing them on to Mom," I grumped at him.
"I'm going to do what I want."
"If she catches this thing, it's going to kill her. In Italy, doctors are having to choose who lives and who dies. They don't have enough medical equipment to care for everyone."
That got his attention.
Earlier, I'd watched a video of military trucks transporting bodies out of Northern Italy to somewhere else for burial and cremation. They are out of room for all the dead.
"If the hospital has 10 ventilators and 40 sick people who need them, what chance do you think and 81-year-old woman has?" It was a low blow. I'm desperate.
I rooted around in the closet for my extra hand sanitizer forgetting that I'd given it to my son and daughter-in-law a couple of weeks earlier.
"Wash your hands as soon as you get home," I bossed. "And stay home. I can get you whatever you need."
He left under a barrage of my nagging and a wish for a happy anniversary.
"I nag because I love!" I shouted at his retreating back.
I think he knows. He might not like it, but he knows.
I completely know what you're up against. My father-in-law, 94, insists on still going to the grocery store. In fairness, he does go very early in the morning (always has) so it isn't crowded. But they are SO stubborn! His neighbor offered to go shopping for him and of course he sai dno.
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