My mom died this week. She didn't die of COVID, but she died *with* it. But she was still forced to die alone. Her husband of 46 years is devastated. He was able to spend 15 minutes with her earlier in the day in full PPE. He wasn't supposed to touch her, but he snuck his hand in anyway. And those lines on the picture are because we had to watch on FaceTime and take a screenshot. You hear about these lonely deaths. But you don't truly understand the depth of it until your family experiences it. It's so complicated, and adds a layer of grief on top of what's already an unimaginable loss. We will never recover from this.
April 4, 2021
This photo of empty meat shelves in my local supermarket may be extreme, but all fall we've been noticing shortages of "normal" items in the grocery stores and pharmacies. I had gone into the supermarket to pick up a prescription in the pharmacy department but couldn't help but notice the depleted shelves in the produce, dairy and meat sections. I think the depleted shelves were due to a combination of factors: it was a few days after New Year's; and there was a significant snowfall in our area (which doesn't handle snow well) which led to a 36 hour road closure on Interstate 95 south of us. Plus all the supply chain issues which have become so normal they aren't even news anymore. Every time I see empty shelves or see the "out of stock" notation when shopping online, I think of the shops in the countries of the former Soviet Union and the long lines that were standard for people in those countries decades ago just to buy staples. Obviously, it isn't that bad here... but honestly, I never expected to see this situation here. And of course, these supply chain issues are most critically important when it has meant that health care professionals and medical facilities have not had the equipment and resources they need to fight this pandemic. Or when we had to made do with poorly made masks. Sigh.... it is not a good way to start the new year.... I honestly just wish this -- the coronavirus -- was over.
January 10, 2022