When someone in your family battles through any sort of illness, even if it is the common cold, it affects the entire family. The rest of the family members have to eat hot soup for the next couple weeks because their family member is eating soup everyday. If this is the case, imagine if your mother was diagnosed with the global pandemic. The same global pandemic that has caused schools to shut down, businesses to go bankrupt, communities to starve, and friends and families forced to isolate themselves. Basically, a virus that has shut the entire world down. This pandemic has killed millions of lives around the world. There is no guarantee that your mom will survive this. The thing is I didn’t have to imagine. I went through it, everyday. It not only affected my mom physically and mentally but my brother, my dad, and I all went through it with her. While my mom was struggling to breath, gasping for air, isolated in her room, my dad was sleeping on the couch. We would leave food outside the door and whatever went in did not come out again. She had her own garbage bag which not only contained wasted food, disposables, but her vomit. When I would facetime her, I was only allowed to facetime her for 15 minutes because after 15 minutes, she was not only too tired to talk, she started struggling to breathe. She didn’t want me to see her in that stage. We took turns preparing food for her, setting it in a plate, and everything. We did this 4 times a day, breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and snacks, and dinner. My dad, the guy who has never touched a cooking pot in his entire life, learnt how to make 7 dishes during this time. Dinner tables with my brother and my dad were silent. My dad tried to be strong but I will never forget how he balled out in tears in the middle of cooking, his tears dripping into the food. I never knew how much my mom did for our family. Without her, our house felt like it was crashing down. Our friends would leave food at our doorstep so we wouldn’t starve. My mom felt bad even at this because she felt like an untouchable. Nobody has come in physical contact with her for over a month. I would cry myself to sleep every night. I haven’t told any of my friends or even anybody until now. The only people who knew were my parents' friends who came to drop off food. When my family friends would say it’s going to be okay, I would burst out crying like a puppy in the cold rain. They didn’t know she was going to be okay. They didn’t know she chanted more prayers in those few weeks than she has in her entire life. Even though she was affected with this virus, in a way, we were all affected. We all had huge weight on our shoulders now and it was, in fact, a matter of life and death. However, my mom is the strongest person I know. She took all of her stress and manifested it into positive energy. To this day, she believes that she only got better because God personally blessed her and made her better. Even though she is much better, she still struggles with daily chores. She will get as tired, panting, as a person who has run an entire marathon when she has only finished her laundry. She is at risk of catching other illnesses because her body’s immune system is so weak at the moment. She is so particular when it comes to masks, gloves, and cleanliness. Even as I am writing this now, I have had to stop 3 times because this is so personal to me and it’s so sensitive to me, tears automatically started dripping down my face. My mom is truly an inspiration because I have had to pick up on these things and notice them. She always tried to be strong for our family. She really is the pillar of this family. She is the one who holds us together. Mom, I love you.
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