It's time again for The Check In, where we ask you for your perspective on a different issue each week with the hope of making us all feel a little less alone.
This week we heard from people who are struggling to get their loved ones to take this pandemic seriously — including Gina Dell’Olio, a Worcester woman who finally got her parents to wear a mask outside, but conceded over traditional Sunday dinner. Alyssa Defendi, a Marblehead woman, is struggling to persuade three family members to take things seriously. Christine Varriale is an Allston resident who fought with her father on the phone and convinced him to skip a golf trip in Florida.
We also heard from Cambridge-based psychiatrist Dr. Emeric Bojarski, who works with children, adolescents and adults. He offered some advice for those struggling with this issue: Take things slow. “It’s not an all or nothing situation,” Bojarski said. “Encouraging incremental progress in these situations might be better received than taking an approach that I think an older family member would receive as doom and gloom panic.”
Next week, we’re looking for stories about celebrations and gatherings during isolation: weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and other big occasions that we’ve had to celebrate in isolation. Are you coming up with creative ways to show love when you can’t throw a party? Tell us about them by sening a voice memo to tori_bedford@wgbh.org and put “THE CHECK IN” in the subject line.
