Pictured: Matthew, Ramona, Paul (in wheelchair)

Ramona Nelson, Family Member

Ramona Nelson is a retired state of Minnesota employee. She resides in an assisted living facility five minutes away from her brother’s nursing home. Click the black squares below to hear and read about Ramona’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. The expanded interview (edited for clarity) is available at the bottom of the page.

The Parkinson’s took a nosedive and leveled off, and so his Parkinson’s got considerably worse from what it was before. I don’t know if COVID hastened that process, but you can’t prove it.

And he does have DVD’s but he runs into trouble because he can’t make them work. He doesn’t have the physical… he shakes too much to make things work the right way so he’s in a bind. If I’m there I can get it set up so we can watch a DVD.

And then they started playing Bingo again. And Paul liked to play Bingo and he does win. They can pick out their prize and he picks out some good prizes…  Paul had won this Teddy bear at Bingo and so he wanted to give it to me, so I took it upstairs but I had to wait three days before I could open it up.

My brother was diagnosed with COVID and he went up to the 2nd floor to the COVID unit and then he was there, and he of course he couldn’t see anybody and it was very hard. 

I can be quite active, and not being able to go do what I wanted to do and always having to wear a mask when I left my apartment…to and from the elevator and all that kind of stuff…it got to be too much.

Click below for the expanded interview (12:18).