It’s no secret that the older generation are being hit fiercely by this pandemic, with the care home crisis being a major talking point in Covid-19 news. In my opinion, there really is no better time than now to start connecting with older generations.
“It’s no secret that the older generation are being hit fiercely by this pandemic”
Fortunately, myself and my family have not yet contracted the virus and are all staying safe by following the government guidelines. However, the fear of contracting the virus is very prominent in my family, as I’m sure it is for many other families. My Great Grandmother is in good health but, because of her age, she is having to self isolate. We’ve gone from seeing her about 4 times a week, to not seeing her for over 8 weeks. I’ve realised how lucky she is to have her family close by to deliver essentials, and also to have a network of people ringing up to check she’s doing okay, but unfortunately this isn’t the case for many of our older generation.
That’s why I’ve made it my goal to connect with older people during lockdown. My lockdown journey has very much consisted of writing letters to the elderly and checking up on my own elderly family members. It’s disappointing that I’ve never really committed to helping the elderly before, but with so much spare time on my hands I’ve had no excuses!
“left to cope on their own with no emotional or mental support”
Whilst I’m sat here at home, with my parents and my younger brother, many elderly people have no one during a time which is so frightening for them. It makes my heart ache that these people, some of them even serving our country during the war, are now being left to cope on their own with no emotional or mental support.
I’m no professional but I’m sure I speak for so many when I say that a simple letter explaining what lockdown looks like for me, is sure to put a smile on the face of a lonely, elderly person. It’s helped me cope with lockdown too, writing down what I’ve done during the day has been a great way of helping me to see the positives that have come from this pandemic. I’ve been able to start new hobbies, connect with new people and really focus on becoming the person I want to be.
The older generations have done a good job of teaching us what life was like during their time, and now it’s our turn. I feel that I must document this new, and sometimes scary, journey so that when I’m a similar position to those who I’m writing too, I can share what life was like for me as the younger generation share what life is like for them.
Although we may be many years apart, we are all in this together.
Holly Hostettler-Davies
Featured image courtesy of Francesco Tommasini on Unsplash. This image has in no way been altered. Image license is available here.
hollyhd
Hi! My name's Holly and I'm 17. I am a co-founder of Empoword Journalism and am so excited to create content alongside many young journalists.