Despite COVID-19, This Mother-Daughter Relationship Remains Stronger Than Ever
Sylvia Marrero-Jones, 67, and her 94-year-old mother, Lydia Marrero, have their daily routine down to a science. Every morning, they’ll watch Marrero’s favorite show “The Price is Right” together, laughing, poking fun at the crazy contestants, and making countless memories. Afterward, they’ll have lunch, play games, and see where the day takes them — and will ultimately spend the entire day together.
“There’s a certain excitement in the air,” Marrero-Jones said.
Earlier in March, the coronavirus became a new reality, with face masks, runs on toilet paper, and social distancing disrupting lives all across the nation and the world. Yet, in Las Vegas, Nevada, this mother-daughter pair’s time together wasn’t disrupted; instead, they kept living out their unique relationship despite the impacts of the pandemic. Ironically, the coronavirus regulations have made the city a little bit more accessible and easier for her mother to take in, Marrero-Jones says.
“Mom is really enjoying me taking her around the city and in places that she hasn’t been to in a really, really, really long time, or that she’s never been to but has heard about,” Marrero-Jones remarked. “Now that we have the time, and we have less people, she’s enjoying where she lives.”
But, besides their normal routine, nothing they do is necessarily different from before the pandemic started. In those days, their time together would be just as energized and fun and would consist of everything from brunching at local casinos to driving to new places in town. Businesses may be closed, but the coronavirus just makes spending quality time all the more possible. If anything, it has brought them even closer physically and socially.
Needless to say, they enjoy spending all the time they can together. Even though they live in separate homes, they are within a close distance of each other. However, their relationship isn’t like one of a typical adult child taking care of an aging parent. Marrero-Jones and her mother see it as an equal partnership, one that does not simply mean being the caregiver to the cared for. It includes minimizing misunderstandings and being brutally honest with each other.
“She’s tried to help me, and I’ve tried to help her. And that’s the best way to live between mother and daughter,” Marrero says.
Marrero also notes that an essential part is having mutual respect.
“Being mother and daughter is the best thing in life,” she said. “It is the best one because you’ll respect each other as people in life. You have to respect [as] mother and daughter, and you have to respect each other.”
Additionally, their Puerto Rican culture and heritage also plays a big role, as it solidifies their bond and is one of the reasons they relate so well to each other.
“We feel like we are a smaller country in the scope of the entire world, so we try to stick together to keep our culture alive, our music alive, and our food alive,” Marrero-Jones said.
Marrero-Jones admires her mother for many things, but most of all, her spirit. At 94, it can be difficult to be outgoing and upbeat, but says she’s all those qualities and more. She’s loving, positive, and a warrior.
“I see my mom as a person that is not afraid,” she added. “She’s a can-do type of person that will go out on a limb to learn something new.”
On the flip side, Marrero is grateful for her daughter because her presence means that she is not alone.
“Having her here is like I am not by myself,” Marrero said. “If I have to go shopping, we go together. If we’re going to have to go to the bank, we go together. If we have to eat something, we go together. So that is the good thing.”
Marrero-Jones is extremely thankful for every single day she gets to be with her mother and the memories they create. And even though she spends the majority of her time with an aging parent, her constant goal is to continue to make her mother feel beautiful. Even as the days go by in this pandemic, her mother still gets dressed up every morning as if it were any normal day, which Marrero-Jones loves.
“Just to make this person feel beautiful is so important. I know that, as a little child, we always tell little children how beautiful they are,” Marrero-Jones remarked. “When they’re older, it’s so important to tell an older person how beautiful they are.”
This pandemic may have stopped the world’s normal form of life from taking place, but despite that, these two haven’t lost sight of what is important to them: each other.
“If you are a good parent at the beginning, then at the end, your child becomes a good parent to you because it’s just that cycle of life,” Marrero-Jones said.
Editor’s Note: Both women are close family of the author and she has witnessed this relationship throughout her entire life.
