Dear Yuri
Its day number 20,000 (not real but feels like it) of the quarantine and I think we are on the acceptance stage, you know the stages of grief. Here is one of the reasons why.
Easter Sunday night, we receive a phone call from my dad that my mum had to be rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately, we are under very strict rules of lock down and no movements are allowed. In order for one to move with a patient to the hospital, he would have to call the resident district commissioner and hopefully he is available to grant permission where a sticker is issued before any car movements can be made. Given the urgency and gravity of this situation that was not a viable option so my dad literally carried my mum on his back up to the nearest hospital where she was immediately taken for an operation.
My sister and I stay in the capital city that is about 250 kilometres from my parents’ home, but she was determined to walk the distance to get to her. Thankfully on her way she stopped a sugarcane truck heading the same direction and was offered a lift upon paying 200k, the normal fare is about 7k. She also had to sleep/hide among the sugar canes so that the highway police checks do not notice that there is another passenger other than the designated three people.
It’s been three days now and we have been virtually taking care of my mum whilst receiving updates of her situation from my sister who braved and risked getting to her. Her operation was successful, and she is slowly recovering.
This lock-down has clearly made us miss out on important opportunities to share and take care of our loved ones but for now we continue to rest in the hope that tomorrow we shall wake up and all this would have vanished like a bad dream.