This is a difficult time for all of us.

Not only are many of us at the age where the risk increases, we have family and friends in the US and beyond to worry about along with our loved ones here in Montreal.

I returned March 14 from a trip to Havana to visit friends and have been in isolation since. Irwin and I inhabit different parts of the house and stay six feet from each other. We are taking all precautions not to transmit the virus by staying home, going on short walks with our dog but maintaining a distance of at least six feet from others and avoiding main streets.

The day I returned from Havana, I began writing blogs for theseniortimes.com on our experiences during this crisis. Since then I’ve received many contributions from NYC, Winnipeg, Japan, Israel, and from my family, friends and columnists here in Montreal.

This has been our lifeline — reaching out to all of you and sharing our concerns, advice, and strategies for getting through this.

We welcome your visits to theseniortimes.com where you can read these inspiring, helpful, and touching stories. I invite you to write your own stories and send them to barbarasmoser@gmail.com.

If you’re wondering how we put this issue together, we’ve done it all from home with the exception of Thelma Gearey, our office manager, who is alone at our office most mornings. Our graphic designer, Albert Cormier, took the main computer home to create this issue. Our sales reps, including Shirley Cohen, 91, are working from home. Shirley has a direct line to the prime minister’s office by phone from where she is isolated in her apartment at the B’nai Brithresidence in CSL. She has no internet. She exercises on her balcony.

This issue is going mainly to apartment buildings, banks, and pharmacies. We enjoyed putting it together from our homes.

Most importantly, stay safe and well! Ask for help from friends and neighbours for grocery shopping and medication! Don’t take chances!