Lynda Hartman needed a hug.
It had been at least eight months since she touched her 77-year-old husband, Len, who has dementia and has been at an assisted living center in suburban Denver, Colorado, for the past year.
On Wednesday, she got a small taste of what life was like before the COVID-19 pandemic — sort of.
Photo: AP
Thanks to a “hug tent” set up outside Juniper Village at Louisville, Colorado, Hartman could squeeze her husband — albeit while wearing plastic sleeves and separated by a 4mm-thick clear plastic barrier.
“I really needed it. I really needed it,” the 75-year-old said after her brief visit. “It meant a lot to me, and it’s been a long, long time.”
Hartman, who fractured two vertebrae and could no longer take care of her husband by herself, said she thought he was a little confused, but that it was important for them to embrace again.
“We’ve been trying to do it for a long time,” she said. “It felt good. I kept hitting his glasses when I hugged him, though. And he got cold.”
Although the setup was not ideal, Hartman said: “At least you can do something, and it’s important.”
Since the pandemic started, similar tents have popped up around the country and in places like Brazil and England, where some people call them “cuddle curtains.”
The assisted living facility, which has fully vaccinated its residents and staff, partnered with nonprofit healthcare organization TRU Community Care to set up the tent with construction-grade plastic on a blustery, but warm winter day this week.
“I think it’s just a huge weight off their shoulders, just being able to have that hug that they haven’t had in so long,” Juniper Villager spokeswoman Anna Hostetter said. “When we were planning this and setting it up, and I saw pictures, I wasn’t sure if with all the plastic and everything you could really get that human contact, but I teared up on some of them. It was really special for our families.”
The hug tent is to go up again on Tuesday, and staff are planning to keep hosting them.
For Gregg MacDonald, holding hands with his 84-year-old mother, Chloe MacDonald, was important because they had not touched since April.
“Time is a precious commodity, so while we all wait to get back to more normality, in the meantime, everyone is doing what they can,” Gregg MacDonald said. “So I appreciate any efforts that they are making to allow us to have more contact with everybody.”
Amanda Meier, project coordinator for TRU Community Care, said she, her husband and some volunteers built the hug tent around a standard 2.3m-by-2.3m popup frame and attached the plastic with glue and Velcro. Plastic arm sleeves built into the tent are attached with embroidery hoops.
Since November last year, she has helped set up four hug tents in Colorado and said the feedback has been positive.
“Lots of tears, but happy sort of tears, and a lot of shocked expressions of how in the world can we be doing something like this. It’s so weird,” Meier said.
After the initial weirdness, the benefits are clear, she said.
“You can see sort of relief in their bodies and their faces when they finally get to have that physical contact, which is really a basic human need, and in these facilities, a lot of times they’re missing it anyway because they’re just not with their families,” Meier said. “I don’t think it’s measurable, really. You just know it when you see it and feel it when you’re there.”
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
RSS