Kol Ami — The Northern Virginia Reconstructionist Community

Postive Aging Blog- September 2020- Visits from Family

Visits from Family

by Harriet Epstein

September 2020

 

Many older people are puzzled about whether or not to receive visits from family members in these days of Covid 19.  For some, it has been a long time since they have seen their adult children and their grandchildren.  As I speak with my age peers, I discover everyone has set his or her own standards for which stores to visit and which not, which friends to see and which not, etc., with some maintaining a really strong isolation, and others being more relaxed. You are the best judge of where you are on this spectrum.

When my daughter who works in an office three days a week visits me every Saturday, she is always jumping away if I inadvertently get too close to her, as she is afraid she will bring the infection to me from her work world.  My son-in-law in Ohio doesn’t seem to believe in germ or virus theory and often goes places I wish he wouldn’t.  He’s also not much of a hand-washer.  As a result, I’m not eager for a visit from him any time soon, and I sincerely hope he doesn’t infect his immediate family.  If you have a child whose family has been well isolated and is having no symptoms, you might feel more comfortable inviting them to your home.

And that brings us to the question or whether we should wear masks and require our loved ones to do the same when they visit.  I would suggest starting out with masks and carefully observing before discarding the masks.  Of course, if you are serving food and drink, the masks must come off for at least a short while.  Hugs and kisses, or elbow bumps and high fives? – another topic to consider…

Some of us will just continue to stick with E-Mail, Skype, Zoom, and phone calls for the time being. You can and should think about it, but no one can tell you what to do…..

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