After 98 days in lockdown, liberty for Narelle is pure joy

After 98 days locked down in her aged care home, watching Narelle Taylor roll to freedom to AC/DC’s Jailbreak is pure, unadulterated joy | WATCH

“Are you at work?”

I saw my mother’s Facebook message while on the couch, where I’d just opened a beer after what I thought was a difficult day. I stayed put, and told her I’d see her tomorrow. It feels even meaner now than it did on that hot Sunday evening in January.

My mother, Narelle Taylor, lives in aged care in Perth about 1km from my house. She is physically ravaged from Multiple Sclerosis — sometimes she struggles to talk and breathe at the same time — but she is also sharp, assured and optimistic.

When she was locked down 99 days ago, she described Day One to my sisters and I as “really good”.

“Tom (the manager) did an excellent demonstration of coughing into one’s elbow … I applauded,” she typed in one of her regular messages to the three of us.

On Thursday, Narelle drove her powerchair out the front door of her aged care facility for the first time since March 12. We applauded.

Narelle Taylor rolls out of her Perth aged care facility after 98 days in lockdown.

When the World Health Organisation confirmed coronavirus a pandemic, the family company that owns her aged care facility decided it was safest to cancel visitors and outings. We understood, and we were glad they were being careful.

I was suddenly sorry for those times I could have spent with her and didn’t.

If Narelle was fearful, she did not let on. She made the best of things. She exercised daily with the resident physiotherapist and kept in touch with us on FaceTime. She never complained.

My sisters and I think Narelle’s illness gave her a brilliant perspective on life decades ago. Perhaps she has always had this great outlook. She does not allow herself to worry and she will say and do whatever she wants. That was pretty awkward when we were teenagers but we respect it now.

When her friend lost a lover earlier this year, Narelle sent her a card with a beautiful floral linocut print on the front and wrote: “I’m sorry. Let’s meet for cake or cocaine”. She was only half joking.

When my sister Bree took her to Bali, Narelle — who cannot walk, and surely cannot swim — decided to get in a pool for the first time in 20 years with the assistance of only an inflatable tube from Aldi. Bree pushed Narelle’s chair to the edge of the hotel’s swim-up bar and tipped her in. She thought it was brilliant.

Her first post-lockdown outing felt like a big deal. My sisters and I arrived to take her to lunch and to witness her exit the building. Middle sister Chelsea brought flowers. Youngest sister Bree felt this was an occasion that needed a video. She later added ACDC’s Jailbreak as a soundtrack. Narelle looked so happy as she passed the sliding door out into the winter sunshine. It was a joy to see her joy.