A Story of Confinement

The loneliness of people living on their own

We’ve been coping with the ups and downs of the pandemic for 15 months now. Each person has adapted as best she or he could, but over the long term it’s been hard on morale and a challenge to maintain our daily routines.

People living alone had to deal with restrictions regarding seeing those close to them, as well as the absence of social interactions that used to provide meaning to their days.

Hercule Boulanger left the house he’d lived in for 65 years; Nancy Shepard started playing bridge online; Lise Goad completed a renovation project made much more complicated by the pandemic; and lastly, Paul Kinnis, who just recently moved to Sutton full-time, found various ways to fit in: French-language courses; work at the ski resort; and volunteering his time (including helping neighbors with farm chores).

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There’s no denying that health rules have been eased compared to the strict lock down during the first wave, but these changes have always been based on the ups-and-downs of the alert level. They didn’t really affect seniors living alone whose contacts with others remained limited to one person at a time.

Luckily, they had books, jig-saw puzzles, TV, video games and, occasionally, a surprise activity like the giant puppet show presented by the Théâtre de la Dame de Cœur in the parking lot at the Villas des Monts.

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The longer the pandemic dragged on, the more the number of pieces increased

Dame de coeur Les marionnettes géantes

Giant puppets Éria and Terrenis

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