Vulnerabilities

Talked to John and, more briefly, to Maureen yesterday evening. I was wondering how they'd responded to the whole coronavirus situation and was reassured to find they were not unduly worried. I suppose they lead almost completely solitary lives now, apart from trips to hospitals and the like to deal with their numerous health issues, and so don't feel terribly threatened. In fact, I'm not too sure they've taken in just how vulnerable they are to the detrimental effects of the virus given precisely those issues.

Worryingly John raised the issue of the failures of my sister's short term memory. The question of whether she is suffering from dementia has been an open one for some time now, but the way he was talking suggests to me that this is the case and her forgetful repetitiveness isn't just the by-product of her other problems but is a real 'thing' in itself. He compared her to Mum in her final two or three years and that was jarring to hear.

As ever I felt the empty helplessness which is my usual state of mind regarding their problems. Which, in its turn, put me in mind of all those who must feel hopelessly vulnerable in the current circumstances. I know that my processing of all the information on the virus has been generally unpleasantly selfish as I've been chiefly concerned with assessing the risk to yours truly (which doesn't seem terribly high.) It's time to look beyond self for all of us, I suspect, if we're going to maintain a world worth living in.