Being apart from our families in lockdown is tough but rules are there for a reason - Laura Collins, YEP Editor

I can still remember the last time I saw my mum and dad.

It was a week before we went into lockdown after trekking along the motorway to Grimsby.

The drive along the M62 followed by the M18, M180 and A180 isn’t the most spectacular.

It is flat, boring and the noisy concrete road on the way into my hometown is enough to rattle any loose nuts out of your car engine.

After spending a day with my beloved family, I always give my mum the biggest of hugs on the doorstep and a kiss. I always like to remind her how much I love her.

And I’m so very glad I did because little did I realise that it would be so long before I will be able to see her properly again.

I’ve never been a home bird – I was keen to leave the seaside town behind me when I headed to Leeds to start at university at the age of 18.

But as the weeks in lockdown continue, it is hard to go so long without seeing your loved ones at the drop of a hat. You really take the most simple of things – like a hug – for granted.

Over that time my sister and I have helped my parents navigate the joys of video calling.

We’ve had unfortunate screenshots when the camera has frozen, we’ve also seen a lot of our mum’s ceiling and I’m pretty certain she likes speaking to the dog more than me at times.

But we are lucky and thankful that we still have each other.

There are many families across the country whose lives have been left shattered by this pandemic.

There have been harrowing stories of people receiving a dreaded phone call to tell them their loved one has died without a single member of their family at their bedsides.

Even more tragic is the thought of families being unable to grieve together as they prepare for funerals.

It should be a time of reflection, remembrance and celebrating the lives of those who mean so much. But even that has been taken away.

This week we’re being told that we can enjoy unlimited amounts of exercise – but that doesn’t mean a jaunt to the coast to see my family is on the cards yet.

I’d love to just jump in the car and make the dreary drive to see them. But we simply have to follow the rules.

We’ve spent since the end of March in lockdown to protect the NHS frontline from being swamped by the devastating impact of coronavirus.

Why would we want to undo all that hard work and the sacrifice for the sake of being “normal” again?

Yes, we have to get the economy moving again as the Bank of England warns we are facing the sharpest recession on record.

But we have to remember that it comes at a cost.

Last week we fell silent as a nation to remember the sacrifice of a generation who went to battle during the Second World War – abroad and at home.

And as the death toll continues to rise, we must always remember the tragic cost of the latest battle we are fighting.

I, like so many others, will continue to do as I am told in line with the latest advice for the sake of my own family.