Hope Is A Clear Window

Peter Whitis

Many of the stories emerging from this imposed social isolation are of people crammed together. This is the other side of that.

My wife of 67 years is confined to her room at her nursing home due to "shelter in place” corona virus restrictions. The isolation, everyone required to wear masks, the absence of touch, the anxiety and sense of solitary confinement were overwhelming her. Her confusion mounted and she had brief periods of panic. I could no longer visit.

 Our solution was to meet at the window to her room and talk through our iPhones. We both remembered the time when our third son, Matthew was born in San Diego during a “Santa Ana”, a severe dust storm. The San Diego hospital closed to all visitors and our solution was to find a window to her room and “visit” that way. It wasn’t a dust storm grinding into our face this time but an invisible virus invading our community. My wife and I, in our mid-80s, were deemed especially vulnerable.

After several days of frustrated communication due to a screen that blocked clear vision, Denny, the maintenance chief, came out to see me at the window. He said he could fix that. The next day he had removed the screen and placed it on another window. He also succeeded in rearranging her room furniture so that she could get closer to the “good” window. Now we could clearly see one another and the solitary confinement no longer seemed so devastating. Hope is a clear window.

Peter Whitis is a writer in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.