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Description
Here's my entry for the Core Lounge contest Hard Feelings.

This will be a Father's Day card for my dad come November so it fits my thoughts very well.

When I think about the past year and a half and Covid, the first thing that came to my mind was family. I'm very close with my mum and I try to visit her at least once a month. When Covid came, no one knew anything about it, no one was vaccinated. People were scared. I work in a café so I get in contact with a lot of people. Both local and people passing by. I was afraid for my fiancé who has asthma. I also didn't want to risk bringing the disease to my parents and brothers who live a 3 hour drive away.

For months we just called and texted with my mum. I didn't visit. Later I got the courage to visit. I drove 3 hours there, wore a mask and hung around outside with her for a couple of hours only to have to drive back home 3 hours. I cried every time I left.

I miss my grandparents terribly but in a way I'm also glad that they didn't have to experience Covid. My dad's mum was the last go at the age of 96, not long before Covid.

She lived in a hospice facility for years. Whenever we visited, I snuck into her personal bathroom to clean it because, well....you know. It was a tiny room with barely anything at all. Other patients were too far off to keep grandma company. Her mind was razor sharp when she went there. I could see her slip away as the years went by. Last time I saw her, she wanted to watch photos with me and as she was explaining the photos I suddenly realized she didn't know who I was. I told my dad she wouldn't live long. She died in the Fall.

In the Spring during Mother's Day my dad was crying after her but I told my dad: "Imagine if she was still alive now during Covid. Lying there in her room all alone, surrounded by dying people while her mind is slipping away. No one being able to visit her. Not being able to even say goodbye when she passed."

I haven't even had the worst of it. My family is OK. But the fear was real. Still is. During the worst of it all, people swore they would never forget and that the world is forever changed. Yet, this and next week is Fall Holiday in Finland. I've been watching and observing people behind the counter. Sneezing, coughing and touching everything. Not wearing a mask. Leaving all the trash on the table just like before Covid even existed. Sometimes I pick up used masks from the floor of the café. When I drive or walk around, I see used masks that have been thrown out there into nature.

You guys said you wouldn't forget. So don't. Please. For the sake of those we lost. For the sake of those we feared for.

Why do people always forget?

Brush pens, watercolors and colored pencils on Strathmore Mixed Media toned tan.

You can also find me on:
Instagram

I aim to use eco-friendly and vegan art supplies. More information can be found here:
Blog post

Description
Here's my entry for the Core Lounge contest Hard Feelings.

This will be a Father's Day card for my dad come November so it fits my thoughts very well.

When I think about the past year and a half and Covid, the first thing that came to my mind was family. I'm very close with my mum and I try to visit her at least once a month. When Covid came, no one knew anything about it, no one was vaccinated. People were scared. I work in a café so I get in contact with a lot of people. Both local and people passing by. I was afraid for my fiancé who has asthma. I also didn't want to risk bringing the disease to my parents and brothers who live a 3 hour drive away.

For months we just called and texted with my mum. I didn't visit. Later I got the courage to visit. I drove 3 hours there, wore a mask and hung around outside with her for a couple of hours only to have to drive back home 3 hours. I cried every time I left.

I miss my grandparents terribly but in a way I'm also glad that they didn't have to experience Covid. My dad's mum was the last go at the age of 96, not long before Covid.

She lived in a hospice facility for years. Whenever we visited, I snuck into her personal bathroom to clean it because, well....you know. It was a tiny room with barely anything at all. Other patients were too far off to keep grandma company. Her mind was razor sharp when she went there. I could see her slip away as the years went by. Last time I saw her, she wanted to watch photos with me and as she was explaining the photos I suddenly realized she didn't know who I was. I told my dad she wouldn't live long. She died in the Fall.

In the Spring during Mother's Day my dad was crying after her but I told my dad: "Imagine if she was still alive now during Covid. Lying there in her room all alone, surrounded by dying people while her mind is slipping away. No one being able to visit her. Not being able to even say goodbye when she passed."

I haven't even had the worst of it. My family is OK. But the fear was real. Still is. During the worst of it all, people swore they would never forget and that the world is forever changed. Yet, this and next week is Fall Holiday in Finland. I've been watching and observing people behind the counter. Sneezing, coughing and touching everything. Not wearing a mask. Leaving all the trash on the table just like before Covid even existed. Sometimes I pick up used masks from the floor of the café. When I drive or walk around, I see used masks that have been thrown out there into nature.

You guys said you wouldn't forget. So don't. Please. For the sake of those we lost. For the sake of those we feared for.

Why do people always forget?

Brush pens, watercolors and colored pencils on Strathmore Mixed Media toned tan.

You can also find me on:
Instagram

I aim to use eco-friendly and vegan art supplies. More information can be found here:
Blog post