The Lost Generations

The past two years of life in a pandemic have taken their toll on everyone, but not in the same way. As we all know, the impact of these years has varied greatly between different groups in society, depending on many factors – including, importantly, age. Both fear of the disease and the disruption caused by restrictions have been different for the old and the young – the elderly in locked-down care homes, children in repeatedly closed schools, all bearing their own kind of burden. I often wonder how the teenagers I know, who have endured constant upheaval with incredible patience, will look back on this time in years to come, especially when they reach the age of the older relatives for whose sake they have largely made these sacrifices.