Helene and George Kolosov, at home in Los Angeles

Helene, 85 - “I was born on a farm in Slovenia [in 1934] with no running water, no electricity. I’ve come a long way from that.

I lived in Europe after the war when things were really, really hard. But we didn’t have the uncertainty that we have now. The pandemic is frightening because we don’t really know what it is.

Our village was under German occupation. They had an airport and a lot of anti-aircraft machines. And really, we were vulnerable because when the Brits and the Americans took over Italy, they would essentially land in Italy, and then they would fly to Germany to do the bombing. They would fly over our village. 

We were sitting there watching them shooting at the planes in the air. We had a bunker in the backyard, and my sister, who is three years younger, looked at my mother and asked her ‘Are we going to die?’ And I can still hear her voice today.

Physically, I feel al little hemmed in, because as an old person, I’m already confined, and this is confining me more. I am retired. I don’t have children doing to school. I don’t have all the other 999 responsibilities that other people have, so I shouldn’t complain.”

George, 87 - “We are both home-bound, so obviously the restrictions are not as overwhelming as they would be for other people. So in that sense, we are better off than the majority.

Once a week I visit the grocery store or the post office. Before the coronavirus, I was not timing my trips. But now that we have the coronavirus, stores like Gelson’s are opening earlier for senior shoppers. I make it a point to be there at 6:30 in the morning because they let in only 5 people at a time. I am there to be among the earliest shoppers. 

My wife is playing the TV almost 24-hours a day, which is a bit annoying, but since the house is large I catch enough of it. I read the newspaper every morning, so i think I’m pretty up to date. 

When I see the protestors wearing assault rifles and military gear, I just can’t believe my eyes. ‘The person must be totally stupid.’

It makes me feel that things are not going to be normal for quite some time. I’m really cautious and I think we have a very incompetent and stupid government in Washington [D.C.].”