With all the stuff going on with the coronavirus,
I feel that the biggest impact for me has been
that my mother had passed away March 15th.
It became extremely difficult
because obviously I was grieving.
I feel that a good portion of what gets you through grieving
is being able to depend on normalcy,
being able to go out
and spend time with your friends and family.
Whereas now, I'm not able to do any of that.
I'm stuck inside 24/7.
My mind just starts going crazy
and it's very difficult losing your mother
and it's even more difficult grieving alone.
My question to you would be
how we're supposed to make it through this?
Because it's hard.
And Brandy is joining us now
and Brandy, you're having to deal with a very painful loss
and you're having to do it in isolation.
Tell me what's happening.
Yes, so it is extremely difficult.
My mother passed away on March 15th
right at the beginning of all of this
and that's actually
when we were supposed to go on our cruise
which we ended up canceling obviously because of that.
There was a brief period of time
where we actually thought that she did have COVID
because my sister had actually traveled from Europe
and came and visited her.
So we were worried about that
but she was tested,
it came back negative twice.
So she just had other underlying conditions.
And it happened in a pretty short period of time.
It was probably over three, four days,
I think we spent at the hospital
and we were lucky to even be with her
whereas as you mentioned,
some people aren't able to even do that.
So I am incredibly thankful for that.
My family, I had travel
from upwards to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania come down.
I was thankful that my sister was able to see her
for that as well.
So incredibly grateful for that.
But now, here we are a month later,
no funeral, no celebration of life,
no closure or time spent with your family
like you would normally get after having somebody pass
that's close to you.
So I just feel that I'm stuck in March
and it just replays and it replays
and there's no end in sight.
I don't know when closure will be.
I don't know.
It's just extremely difficult.
Let me say first, Brandy,
I'm very sorry for your loss.
Thank you, I appreciate it. I really am,
and I know your mother was advanced in age,
so it's probably not a shock to you
that she's passed
but that doesn't make it any easier for the loss.
And I know that
and I can tell you that
everybody grieves differently
and it's not a matter of getting over it.
You'll always feel the loss of your mother.
There's no question about it.
I can tell you from experience
that you will do so much better,
so much better,
if you will get up every morning
and take your shower and do your hair and your makeup,
whatever it is your normal routine is,
just as you would if things were normal,
as opposed to laying in bed
or just hanging out on the couch.
You've got to get up and require yourself
to go vertical and groom and get dressed
and focus on those things that you can do
and I know that until you are able
to have a proper memorial service,
to spread your mom's ashes
or whatever procedure you want to go through to honor her,
that that's gonna be unfinished business for you.
But you will get to that.
But you've got to take care of yourself
between now and then.
And you're gonna have up days
and you're gonna have down days
but you've got to program yourself
by getting up every day
and doing everything you can as normal as you possibly can
during an abnormal time.
And that is a compromise,
there's no question about it.
Right, of course.
Yeah and I think that's a really good point.
I think that's where I'm lacking is that I just,
yeah, in the morning, don't get out of bed,
don't treat the routine as I usually would
and that's a really good point
that getting up and maybe actually doing my hair
and putting on clothes that I would wear out
instead of just pajamas is
that's great advice,
yeah, great idea.