The coronavirus pandemic has been devastating for older people, especially for those living in care homes, which have been ravaged by the virus.
This has left elderly people without their families and friends at one of the most vulnerable times in their lives.
But one woman came up with a novel solution to her husband's problem: she took a job as a dishwasher in a care home so that she could still see him during the pandemic.
These care home residents recreated iconic album covers during the pandemic:Mary Daniel, 57, had decided to visit her 66-year-old husband ever day when he was moved into Rosecastle at Deerwood, a senior care facility in Jacksonville, last July with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
In an interview with Yahoo Life, Mary said: "My job was to sort of get him ready for bed.
"We'd get him changed from his day clothes, and we would settle in and lay in bed and watch TV and relax together."
And after going 114 days without seeing her husband because of the pandemic, Mary took drastic action so the pair could be reunited.
"I counted every single one of them," Mary said of the days. "I would email the governor every single day. On the 100th day, I did a huge email to let him know 'we are counting the days.'"
Mary then asked the staff at her husband's care home what she could do to gain access.
"I had originally at the very beginning, sent an email to the director asking, 'What can I do? How can I get in there? Can I be a volunteer?' We've always raised service dogs, so I have a puppy service dog in training, so I thought, 'Can bring the dog?' It was just desperate emails to say, 'Please tell me what can I do,'" she said.
She said that they have tried doing window visits, but that her husband became upset.
"We did that twice, and he just cried," Mary said. "He couldn't understand what was going on. They don't understand."
However, a staff member then told Mary that there was a part time job available that would gain her access to the facility.
"They said, 'Are you interested? And I said, 'Yes, I'm very interested!' 'Well, it's a dishwasher role.' I said, 'Well OK, you don't have anything in activities?'" she recalled.
"Well if dishes it is, then I'll take it," she remembers saying. "I told them I'm going to be the best dishwasher they've ever had."
However, before she could be hired, Mary had to go through extensive checks including a drug test, background check, and watching video education tapes on topics including food safety to HIV to the stages of Alzheimer's disease, and a new section on COVID.
"It was quite impressive," Mary said. "It gave me insight into what the staff has to do. I had never known the type of training the staff had to go through."
After jumping through all of the necessary hoops, Mary became an employee at the care home, and her presence has reduced his anxiety significantly.
"All he knows is that I'm there and I'm standing in front of him, and it brings a smile to his face," Daniel said. "He just sort of relaxes. The anxiety is so high for everyone, including the staff. I see him relax when I'm with him. That's the beauty of this."