One day at the Franciscan oasis that welcomes the families of the elderly
ORISTANO. Transparent yet divisive. But now that glass that for two years has united and separated them at the same time is as if it had shattered. From May 1st, the embrace is no longer separated by barriers nor is it virtual through the useful video calls or small films. It’s a real hug. You can finally stand by and shake hands.It is morning and Paola Atzori has just arrived at the Franciscan Oasis, an assisted health residence in via Michele Pira in Oristano. He sits on the veranda and removes the mask from his mother Lina Fara, 91 years old and a guest since September 2012. He hugs her and talks to her, but the two years of isolation for the covid have taken away, in addition to the contact, also a part of the memory of his mother: «When it all started, in March 2020, he was fine. Today she does not walk and, after being infected and hospitalized, she no longer recognizes me. She smiled at everyone, except me, but now we’re here, together again and I’m cuddling her. “
The thought then goes to the two years that have just passed. “For months, the first few months, we were unable to enter the facility, except in the summer. Then the Franciscan Oasis, which has always been very careful to protect our loved ones, found an alternative and opened to visitors. We saw our mother through the glass, but it wasn’t the same. She didn’t recognize us and when she turned ninety she threw the party without us being there, we greeted her with a video. We had to settle for her, but that’s already a lot because there was always the fear of her that she would go away without being able to say goodbye for the last time. Others have lost their families and have not been able to watch over them ».
There are those, like Mrs. Maria Antonietta Villanucci, who arrived at the Oasis in January 2021, after losing her husband Antonello to the covid: «The impact was not easy. I came in here at a difficult time. It was ugly without relatives, without being able to go out even just to go to the cemetery or to do some small shopping. We saw each other through the glass, but he didn’t feel well. Then there is a lot of physical closeness and we still carry the signs of this pandemic within us. It is not easy to overcome these two years and it is even more difficult for those who, like me, have lost a loved one, got sick in turn and suffered isolation. Luck was to find a space here: we are inside the city and now we feel part of it again. Structures like these are intended as the antechamber of the cemetery, but that is a mistake. It is not a good cultural model that considers healthcare residences as isolated places where the end is expected ».
In fact, being in the community in these two years has not always been a disadvantage. Rita Massa, retired professor of classical literature, highlights it: «Here there is company and assistance. At such a time, it was better than being isolated and alone in your own home. If there is sharing, certain moments are overcome with a better spirit. For example, I began to collaborate with L’Arborense, the weekly of the curia, and then there were many moments of animation organized by the operators. Ours is a very active microcosm. When the visits were authorized again, my sister came to see me. We didn’t say anything in particular, it was spontaneous ».
Then there was a particular moment, the one that, thanks to an internship, put the guests in contact with the boys of the professional institute. It is again Rita Massa who recounts that experience: «The contact with these young people was very profound, it allowed us to get to know each other. It was a mutual enrichment: we gave our experience, they gave them the liveliness and attention. ”Veronica Lai of Villaurbana is on the threshold of one hundred. She is 98 years old and she has only one son: «Marcello always comes to visit me. We finally saw each other in the room without the glass in between. For a long time he was on one side and I was on the other. He was satisfied, I less because I have only one child “and that glass was not always a window on the world. It was also a barrier.
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