Moorhead Memory Care Center Honors Patients With COVID-19

18 people living at Lilac Homes Assisted Living Memory Care had coronavirus.

MOORHEAD, Minn,- She said to me, I’m going to die of boredom before I die of the virus.”

Trish Bergstrom’s mom Kathy Richardson never once lost her sense of humor even as she fought COVID-19.

She is 92-years-old with underlying health conditions.

This put her in the at risk category for possible complications.

“I knew that her life expectancy is not long in the first place with all that she’s got going on, so I really thought that this would take her life,”  says Trish Bergstrom, whose mom lives at Lilac Homes.

Kathy beat the odds.

“I was really surprised that she made it through, but she showed very few symptoms throughout the whole process and with her memory loss, she never realized that she even had the virus,” Bergstrom says.

Lilac Homes planted an oak tree in memory of eight residents who passed away.

Everyone was brought outside for a ceremony where they saw their family while social distancing.

“It’s sort of the light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Everyone is happy and it’s important to me that they know that we want to honor their loved ones, the ones who passed and the ones that survived,” says Gina Nelson, the co-owner of Lilac Homes.

Bergstrom says even though she wasn’t able to hold her mom’s hand through these difficult times, she felt at ease knowing that she was surrounded by people who were able to fill that void.

“To have somebody like that will help you get through those times when you can’t be there sitting next to that person, but yet they were there and they were always showing her so much kindness and compassion that it really made a difference,” Bergstrom adds.