For seniors, isolation changes life in varied, nuanced ways

LINDSEY TANNER AP Medical Writer One remembers the polio epidemic and the hardships of World War II. One is stoic about it all — because, he says, he's already "here past the welcome." A third, old enough to remember the aftermath of the 1918 flu epidemic, turns to her faith in challenging times. For older Americans, some of the people most likely to be affected badly by the coronavirus pandemic, these unusual days and the social distancing that they bring are rippling out in varied and nuanced ways. "This kind of thing is not new for us older people," said Mimi Allison, the former director of the National Museum of Dance, who turned 90 on Friday. She lives with one of her daughters and a teenage grandson in Asheville, North Carolina, and says the main inconvenience of social distan