MRS MURPHY breaks the habit of a lifetime today.
“All of my life I have admired young people and love their company but for the first time ever I am really disappointed with some of them who I feel are letting themselves and their families down badly.
“As a young girl I loved to mix and make friends. We all played games together, enjoyed walking to school in groups and meeting particularly at weekends simply to enjoy each other’s company.
“As His Nibs and me got older we encouraged our children to be outgoing and friendly and to help people where possible.
“That tradition continued with the arrival of our grandchildren and I have to say that me and His Nibs are delighted with the way every one of them turned out and behaved themselves,” she told The Kilkenny Observer.
“My gripe, if you could call it that, is that as Covid.19 is coming back at us without mercy for a second time that too many of our young, not all of them teenagers mind you are not showing this terrible illness the respect it deserves.
“Day after day as numbers of people infected increase dramatically and, sadly, more people are dying, medical experts are appealing and appealing again to everyone to keep their distance and not to be gathering in big groups, among other advice such as regular hand washing.
“I know that practically everyone in pension years is obeying this advice to the letter of the law.
“We were locked down for many months and didn’t get to interact or even see our children or grandchildren for ages.
“That was heartbreak but we knew it was also vital for the health of our people and hence we were prepared to make the sacrifices.
“I would hope that our efforts will not amount to a waste of time as from what we see on the telly and read about in the newspapers our younger generation, a minority of them I would like to believe, are not playing ball, as my good father God rest him would say to us if we stepped out of line.
“To be honest our elderly in particular are living in fear as the virus hits hard again.
“That is only natural and to be truthful our concern is not for ourselves only but also for our loved one of all ages, all of whom can be victims of the disease.
“I am well aware that younger people have a lot better chance of surviving the illness than us elder lemons.
“I hope our youth will always be safe but in asking our children and children’s children to be more cautious and to make the sacrifices, I would remind that as well as putting their grannys and grandads at risk, they are also endangering the lives of their mothers and fathers.
“By ignoring the rules they heighten the risk of bringing the disease home to them through recklessness with social distancing and by gathering in forbidden numbers.
“For the life of me, I would not want to see any young people hurt as every one of them is someone’s son or daughter.
“I appeal to them to abide by all the medical advice, a route that could lead to a decrease in numbers getting the illness and hopefully the eventual eradication of the virus altogether.
“It will take courage and sacrifice to keep everybody safe but that is a small price to pay for putting your own lives and the lives of others at risk.
“Please god everybody will see the light and see it immediately, otherwise I fear that we may be in for a very dark and sad winter.”
Keep safe everybody, Murph.
Obey Covid rules Murph appeals to young
