5 Messages from Grandchildren in a Pandemic that Targets their Elders

Here are five messages from younger family members who are all hoping for the best and staying positive for the benefit of their grandparents and seniors.

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1. “I am grateful we are safe”

Being told that one wrong move could cost someone their life is a very terrifying thing and something that most of us have never heard before. Many families have decided to cancel their annual plans for big get-together holidays like Christmas and/or Thanksgiving to protect their older family members. These decisions are never desired but the risk for having these celebrations goes against public health advisory and it could cost lives.

Alec Gordon explained that for his family. he is “grateful we are safe, [and] it hasn’t halted our relationship.” He goes on to describe that “we are all social people that thrive off of social interactions rather than phone calls.” And that it has been hard being more distanced from his family but acknowledges that this is the safest route, and he is confident that his family “will come out of it.” His biggest concerns despite his family taking the safest route from his grandparents are that no one knows how long this will last which becomes very concerning since it has been almost a year.

2. “I feel bad… but they are in the greatest circumstances they can be”

Jackson Littlewood, on the other hand, was out of the country when the pandemic made its premiere in the United States. With the consequences and hardship of this pandemic and the risks, the Littlewood family decided to bring his great-grandmother to his aunt’s home to help. “I’m really glad she’s [with my aunt]” he claims, “otherwise she’d be in a senior living facility.”

Littlewood has remained in touch with his great-grandma as much as he can, socially distant outdoor chats, numerous phone calls, and texts to keep in touch. Like most, “she misses restaurants, shops, and other little things.” While this pandemic has limited our access to things like this Littlewood and his family “feel bad [for her] but know she is in the best situation she can be given the circumstances.”

This pandemic created change in everyone’s lives but when the sacrifice can ensure safety and better health outcomes, then that is what we need to do.

3. “It's more complicated to stay in touch but it shows a lot that we still do and want to!”

Kailey Kahanek, a Fort Collins resident has always been close with her immediate family and has found positive ways to create healthy and longstanding relationships with her family, immediate and extended.

“Before the pandemic, my relationship [to my grandparents] was good but we didn’t go out of our way to connect” Kahanek states. While the pandemic has hindered and made things harder for everyone of all ages and condition status, Kahanek believes that this pandemic has made her relationships improve more positively especially with her grandparents.

“The more distanced we’ve been, the more we’ve actually made an effort to get together even if it doesn’t look the way it used to,” she explains. She explains how among all the fears this pandemic has created she and her family have made the sacrifices necessary to be close to them even if it means “sitting on the patio somewhere in the freezing cold just to be able to spend time together.”

The pandemic has created so many different challenges and obstacles but the Kahanek family does their best to remain safe, close to their loved ones, even though the complications. It is important to maintain relations in such a risky and hard time but they keep their effort to stay connected.

4. “They are not as careful as they should be.”

Joel Collier, a local CSU student, and Fort Collins long-term resident express a fear that many families like him are feeling. He says, “they are not as careful as they should be so…I would say I am worried about their health.”

Many have struggled with this new adaption and almost everyone has become deprived socially. It is not easy for anyone. Collier’s grandparents included.

Despite Collier stating that his grandparents aren’t being as proactive as he believes they can be, he also says that the pandemic “has encouraged me to reach out to them a little more, virtually of course” which is a common response to families in these hard times. And additionally, Collier is a faithful and dedicated Christian who says “my faith is how I deal with [this]. Trusting God for the future and knowing that all things have a purpose.”

Having faith, religious or not, has been a common way for people to stay optimistic for everyone in these times of fear and hardship. For families like the Colliers, even though there are decisions that are questionable, faith is what is keeping his hope alive for this entire situation.

5. “It’s rough not knowing if last time seeing him was the last [time]…it’s 100% out of my control.”

Cabe Green is a CSU student and Fort Collins native and has expressed deep concerns during this pandemic. His grandfather was diagnosed with cancer, again. The CDC highlights that individuals who are at heightened risk to COVID-19, aside from seniors over age sixty-five, are those who are a diagnosed cancer patient.

He says, “[his grandpa’s] treatment is working extremely well” however, it is terrifying for him to be on the other end with this being “100% out of my control.” With a family member away for medical illnesses and especially prone to becoming a victim towards COVID-19, he urges people to stop going out and endangering everyone with large gatherings or unnecessary travel and etcetera.

He also though is optimistic. Despite the hardship and hurt he and his family are going through he also is staying positive. He and his family are all trying to keep their hopes for a better outcome alive and for him, staying and “being positive…helps my parents and brother and [it makes me] feel better about it.”

This pandemic has been described under the use of terms like “unprecedented times” or “troubling times” and such which is true. No one predicted that 2020 would change our lives as much as it has much less be the cause of so many deaths. While tragedy has plagued the world and impacted everyone’s life, hope is still alive. Vaccines are being distributed as we speak and while it is hard to say when life will return to what we know, love, and miss, it is important to make what we can of these situations and keep hope alive.