Glamorous great granny waiting on the call for vaccine
Glamorous great grandmother Nellie Fitzgerald said her first outing when lockdown is lifted is to travel to see her daughter in Tralee.
Nellie, who lives in Roche’s Heights, Mitchelstown, like many of her octogenarian age cohort, is cocooning and protecting herself from the potential of infection from Covid-19.
But it has not been without its challenges for Nellie, who has in past times been crowned Queen of the Galtees and is well known for her love of style.
“It is a desperate time, we would all get sick of it. It is difficult to put up with, but I have done what we have been told to do and we had all hoped it would be gone by now, but there is no let up,” she said.
“I have a big family of 11 children, 33 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren, but they are all afraid to come and visit me. It is very difficult to see an end in sight to this. People my age are afraid to go down town.
“I am a daily church goer, but with the Masses gone it is desperate, everyone enjoys going to Mass, it is also a great way to meet up with people.
“I go down to the church and it is a great way to pass away a half hour. Besides the Masses though, there is nothing for people of 21 or 41 years old - everyone has been affected,” she added.
AWAITING THE JAB
Nellie is 84 and is now waiting to get the call for her vaccine jab.
“I haven’t got it yet. It hasn’t been offered to me yet, they’re doing the 84s but I wasn’t called yet.
“I would feel an awful lot better if I got it - I think it would help an awful lot to get the vaccine. But it is up to yourself to mind yourself, for example when you meet the person down town to make sure you keep your distance.
“I wear a mask going into shops but I see people going in with no masks. If we all put on masks then it will do some good. I get a very dry throat from the mask, but I wear it when I am going out.
“I was born in 1936. I have seen a lot in my life, but I never saw anything like this. It is easy to get fed up of it - people just need to do what they are told, keep your distance and wear a mask,” she added.
Nellie is looking forward to the end of lockdown and has a simple plan for when the current five kilometre limit is lifted.
“With the help of God we’ll see better days. The first thing I’m going to do is go and visit my daughter Bernadette (Heaphy) in Tralee. I haven’t seen her in months,” she said.