There’s a Serial Killer Named COVID and It Snuffed My Mothers Life Out

The isolation and loneliness made her give up

My Mom, Patricia, Halloween 2019

My Mom was pretty lively for her age. She lived in an Assisted Living community called Ravenwood until she passed away at 90. She was there for 5 years. Although at first it was very difficult for her to leave her home of 62 years, she slowly adjusted. They had activities all day long and she participated in everything. She left her room in the morning and never came back until after bingo at night. They loved her there.

My sister, my daughter, and I shared seeing her every day. One of us would always check in on her. My daughter called bingo there one night a week which was a big deal to my mom. She could brag about her granddaughter volunteering and what a good girl she was.

My mom had always been very active. She played cards, socialized, and had several friends. Sadly, after a couple of fender benders we had to stop her driving.

One of her favorite outings was going on “dog runs” with my daughter who volunteered to help transport rescue dogs to new homes. My mom would hold the dogs on her lap if they were small enough. It gave her such joy.

Mom on a “rescue run” holding Claudia

She read a lot of books and watched TV but was not used to being alone. Staying at her home in the country was lonely and not safe for her. My dad had passed away in 2010 and this was 2014. She had signs of dementia and called my sister and me 10x a day to ask about the same things. I would get her pills sorted for the week and put them in a labeled container. One time she took all her pills for the week on one day.

My sister and I would spend time with her but we both had full-time jobs, children, grandchildren, and things going on. When we decided assisted living would be safest for her we eased her into enjoying the other residents and activities. We still included her on family outings as often as we could.

As the years passed my mom became more forgetful and disoriented. When she turned 85 she thought she was 65 and wondered if she could retire now. She was always…