Before walking out the door on the
morning of a big test or game or interview, Audrey Prescott’s seven children
knew what their mom expected to hear out of their mouths: “I can do it.”
“I don’t hear it, it’s not loud enough,”
she’d respond. So they’d repeat, with greater enthusiasm, “I can do it.”
“She would do that with all of her kids,
and each of her grandkids,” said her son, John Prescott, a parishioner of St.
Ann Church in Arlington. “It was just a wonderful way of building one’s self
confidence.”
The cheerful, can-do mantra was the last
thing her granddaughter Allie Prescott told her before Audrey died from
COVID-19, three days shy of her 91st birthday.
As the coronavirus arrived in Northern
Virginia, John and his wife Charlotte, both physicians, decided to move Audrey
out of her assisted living facility and into their Arlington home. “We had
heard some of the stories about out west, how people could not visit their
loved ones,” he said. “My mom was getting increasingly frail and sometimes
confused, so it was important to have family contact.”
But
the family still had health care workers come into their home to take care of
Audrey, and they suspect that’s how she contracted COVID-19. She had a high
fever, chills that made her teeth chatter and a loss of appetite, said John.
Soon, he, Charlotte and their daughter Allie, who had moved back home during
the pandemic, began to develop symptoms. John and Audrey got tested, and their
results came back positive. Charlotte and Allie were presumed positive.
It was difficult to care for Audrey and
themselves, said John. They experienced terrible headaches, fatigue, a cough
and a loss of taste. “As individuals, we were simultaneously confronting our
own illness and mortality,” he said. “There is no doubt that (God) gave us the
strength to care for my mother even as we were ill. The days and nights during
those several weeks were a blur — our faith was a constant guide.
“Initially, we were praying for (my
mother’s) recovery,” said John. “As it became apparent that she was nearing
death, we prayed that God would welcome her into his arms. We all believed that
she would be entering heaven and would be reunited with my dad, sister and
others.”
There were some moments of levity during
their illness. John’s sister, who also lives in Arlington, was able to see
their mother outdoors and from afar during her final days. Another day, Allie
and Audrey sat outside, listening to Dolly Parton, feeling the sun on their
skin and pretending they were at the beach instead.
On Holy Saturday, Audrey slipped into a
coma. She died a few days later with her son at her side. “She was at peace
with where her life had taken her and she was at peace with God for sure,” he
said. “We were very privileged to be able to be with her at that time.”
John’s pastor, Missionhurst Father Ramel
O. Portula, prayed with Audrey and the family over the phone before she died.
And after she died, another clergyman began to pray for the family: Bishop
Michael F. Burbidge. Bishop Burbidge had asked diocesan chancery employees to
make phone calls to check on local Catholics, and John received such a call not
long after his mother’s death. John explained his situation, and the employee
promised to let Bishop Burbidge know. A few days later, Bishop Burbidge called
the family. “It was just incredibly comforting,” said John.
The Prescotts have not been able to have
a funeral for Audrey, but John and Charlotte recently attended a Mass at St.
Ann celebrated for the repose of her soul, one of the few Masses they’ve
attended since the pandemic began.
Fortunately, John, Charlotte and Allie
have all made a full recovery. “Allie just ran a half marathon this past
Saturday,” said John.
He has full confidence the world will
return to normal in the future, especially if people wear masks, wash their
hands and socialize outdoors as much as possible. “We can do this if we do it
together,” he said. “We need to decrease the incidence of the virus, and then
we’ve got to work on this vaccine. That’s where my prayers are right now.”