PHOTO STORY: How an 83-year-old navigates the world during a global pandemic
As an 83-year old woman, Molly Lilly is part of the population most at-risk for contracting — and dying from — the coronavirus. And yet, Lilly said she is not scared; her children often worry about her safety more than she does. And while she hears these voices of frustration and acknowledges the statistics, Lilly continues to adapt her life to the current global context.
“I feel like I've been blessed with good health,” she said. “I'm very fortunate, and I just don't dwell on [the coronavirus] at all. So you just keep on going and do what you have to do.”
But still, Lilly said it’s a balancing act.
Though she might not be as much of a homebody as her kids would like, she said her actions are really determined by her husband, Bob, and his underlying health conditions, like COPD. If it wasn’t for her concern for him, she said, she’d probably be out more.
“Every time I go out he says, ‘Be careful. Be careful. If there's too many people in the store, don't go in,’” she said. “So I know he's worried... I think I'm being careful. I have a mask in every pocket of every jacket I own and in the glove box of both cars.”
Bob hasn’t left the house at all since lockdown, Lilly said. Despite also being more isolated than she’s used to, Lilly said she only feels lonely if she really stops to think about it — so she doesn’t.
Lilly instead joins Zoom calls with her kids, takes her dog Dude to the park, focuses on prayer and hosts weekly outdoor “Sunday Sit Downs,” where a few of her daughters will sit outside with her every Sunday to drink coffee.
While Lilly can still see some of her family under certain conditions, she hasn’t been able to see her great grandchildren because of the risk they pose to Bob — something she said she still cries thinking about.
Lilly said she still FaceTimes the kids, and though this is one of the hardest things right now, she maintains that the coronavirus will end. “My mother lived through the huge Spanish flu,” Lilly said. “I remember her talking about it and how people that she knew died. But they're getting a handle on this now. We've come through, I think, the worst part. We’ve got a vaccine on the horizon. We're going to be okay.”