Christmas background: great-grandmother needs help sending gifts

He can no longer drive and his left hand causes him problems, making daily tasks a bit difficult.

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Pensioner Dolores wants to treat her two great-grandchildren, but it is not easy when they live in Alberta and she lives alone in Montreal.

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“I have a dollhouse and a construction set ready to go,” she said a week before Christmas. The cost of shipping them across the country took her by surprise.

Then there’s the matter of getting someone to drive her to the store and help her wrap the presents. The 80-year-old can no longer drive and her left hand causes problems for her, making everyday tasks a bit difficult.

Gifts aren’t just important to her because they’re the holidays. It is the only way you can stay close to your family, considering physical distance. Her great-grandchildren are two and five years old and she has never met them. A brain condition prevents her from traveling by plane and the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented her daughter’s family in Calgary from visiting her.

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“We stay in touch by phone,” Dolores said.

Sending a few gifts through the mail seems like an easy task for most, but for Dolores, there is a lot of planning required. She doesn’t have a smartphone or internet access, and her local bank branch is closed, meaning she relies on friends to take her to the bank so she can deposit money into her account. Then she needs someone to drive her to a store, as she can walk to do the grocery shopping, but children’s toys are not available nearby. Every step of the way, Dolores needs someone’s help or has to take into account her physical limitations. The money aspect is another concern.

“I am lucky to have friends who help me,” he said. “I’m completely alone here and not as agile as I used to be.”

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