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I'm 86 years old. I'm living all alone now because of the pandemic. Unfortunately, my husband contracted the virus and passed away on March 31st. The hardest part I think was I wasn't there to hold his hand. We were married 64 years we traveled 70 countries.

So I'm in this apartment now, all by myself. This has really, you know, hit me very hard. The kids call, my friends call and so on, but being in this big empty apartment is taking a lot of adjusting.

I've also found since living here, my children have become very protective. All the protection that I think I've given them over the years, they are now showering upon me. So much so that I feel like the child responding to the parents, but that's okay, better that way,

It’s a little daunting after you've been bossing people around teaching school, giving students orders then suddenly you're the one that's taking the orders. And I do so very humbly because I'm grateful that they are thinking of me, but again being treated like the child, it's a little hard for me.

We talking about loneliness and being alone, isolated. So I'll say a joke. “I went to my therapist about my loneliness and no one showed up, even Jehovah witnesses won't knock on my door, they know I just want to talk.”

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Peter Scharff
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Pandemic
I'm 86 years old. I'm living all alone now because of the pandemic. Unfortunately, my husband contracted the virus and passed away on March 31st. The hardest part I think was I wasn't there to hold his hand. We were married 64 years we traveled 70 countries.<br /> <br /> So I'm in this apartment now, all by myself. This has really, you know, hit me very hard. The kids call, my friends call and so on, but being in this big empty apartment is taking a lot of adjusting.<br /> <br /> I've also found since living here, my children have become very protective. All the protection that I think I've given them over the years, they are now showering upon me. So much so that I feel like the child responding to the parents, but that's okay, better that way, <br /> <br /> It’s a little daunting after you've been bossing people around teaching school, giving students orders then suddenly you're the one that's taking the orders. And I do so very humbly because I'm grateful that they are thinking of me, but again being treated like the child, it's a little hard for me.<br /> <br /> We talking about loneliness and being alone, isolated. So I'll say a joke. “I went to my therapist about my loneliness and no one showed up, even Jehovah witnesses won't knock on my door, they know I just want to talk.”