Does anyone else have close family or friends who are still not happy to meet up?

[IncessantNameChanger]

I have a friend in her early forties who will only talk to her parents through a closed glass window. She is horrified I walked through my sisters house to get into her garden as the only other way is via the garage and two locked doors.

My mum has no interest in seeing me or her grand children since last March. Mum, me and dh are all three weeks post our second vaccine.

Anyone else in this situation? I'm not sure my friend will easy to meet up with even if she wants to after her second vaccine. I'm worried I would be on eggshells with her in case I made her uncomfortable.

I wouldnt step over their boundaries. My mum is rather toxic so its probably a perfect excuse to avoid us. I think my friend has long term undiagnosed OCD but she would deny this strongly. I respect her choices totally but I just wonder sometimes when will ever meet up.

My OH has been working face to face with the public all the way through and he’s more nervous about meeting up/going to places than me.

@Willyoujustbequiet

Checking out

You are really being quite rude to MummaPI and coming over as very immature.

Interesting our different perceptions on a conversation, I would have said it was absolutely the other way round

@HelloMissus will your aunt meet up with people outside ? TBH I can understand her being wary of a family meet up if a lot of people are crowded together indoors , I think if I were arranging something for a group of people I'd try to get a gazebo or marquee so people could stay dry outdoors .

@whatswithtodaytoday

I appreciate that I and many others like me are in a very fortunate position, being able to work from home in stable(ish) jobs. I'm very grateful that key workers have continued to work, and that's included a lot of my friends and family. But surely us all staying at home has helped the situation - if everyone had carried on travelling to work and meeting up with people regardless, the pandemic would have been even worse than it already was.

You can't really blame people who have avoided risk as much as possible throughout to at least want to be fully vaccinated before going back to normal life. An to be a bit wary about doing things they haven't done in over a year.

Agree absolutely with this. Also, talking to friends (teachers) who have had no choice but to go out to work, I think many (through necessity) are perhaps less anxious about it than those of us who have been able to hide away at home.

shiney she doesn’t have a garden and won’t get public transport or a taxi.
So the only way anyone can see her is to meet her for a short walk (she’s 83 and can’t go far).
People have done that occasionally. I live over 200 miles away so there’s no chance I’m driving that far up the M1 for a ten minute stroll with her.

My mum has arranged her own birthday celebrations. One in her house. One in a restaurant. One outside at a pub. My aunt won’t go to any.
It’s really sad because at 83 and 80 respectively - these occasions are precious, I think.
But ultimately it’s up to my aunt.

I am pretty cautious; I've had two vaccinations but being cev I had the fear of God put into me!

However, I am a freedom fiend compared with some people I know. Some relatives appear to not want to go out again ever . When dh said we had a restaurant booking, it was all, "Hmmmm. Oh dear. Are you comfortable with that? Don't you know there's a third wave coming?" etc etc etc.

I agree that those who are the most secure are the keenest to hunker down. I understand being afraid (been there!) and still taking precautions, but what I don't like is shaming others for going out/doing anything and making out that they are in the know, and that we are foolish and deluded.

I have a close family member who I have seen... once since last March. Before I saw them regularly. It absolutely sucks because they and their family have basically refused to see any of us and are completely putting their own anxiety first. They wfh and are not at any risk whatsoever as they never go out or see anyone, but they still go on about not wanting to “pass it to anyone vulnerable”. Who are you seeing who is vulnerable?!?

There’s only so long, imo, that you can do this without experiencing an actual impact on your relationships. It makes me think that they clearly don’t give a fuck about seeing us because they’ve barely been in touch and haven’t ever even tried to meet up, even outside.

Another close family member who has also wfh the entire time is anxious about it and still disinfects post. I am a teacher and frankly couldn’t give less of a fuck - I haven’t wfh at all, I get the bus, I have children up in my personal space five days a week. I stick to the rules outside of that but I don’t give covid really a second thought. I am careful because I love to stay round my parents’ house, and want them to be comfortable with seeing me.