My best friends sister died last week from Covid.
35 years old, mother of 5.
It has been terrible.
Her kids have been swimming at my house multiple times in an effort just to occupy them. Crying.
At least I got to go to the funeral.
About the same time, Julia (my OFS) sent me this:
One of my friends, ‘Cathy’, lost her father to Covid earlier this year. That in itself is a heartbreaking loss. What made matters worse is that she’s based in Singapore for work. Cathy’s sister was working in a different city in the Philippines.
They couldn’t go home when their father was in the hospital dying.
Cathy’s sister almost didn’t make it for the funeral.
Cathy’s father dying reminded me of how different our experience was, simply because we’re able to work from home. And how the pandemic just made it even harder.
For the longest time, she took it for granted that she could always come home anytime. Singapore isn’t that far. It’s only 4 hours away by plane.
But it didn’t matter because she couldn’t leave.
I’ve attended more funerals than I can count. I don’t like this fact. But I’m thankful that I’ve had those moments to say goodbye to my loved ones. I just wish Cathy had the chance to do the same.
Death is hard.
Cut them some slack if they have a death in the family. They’re stressed about it.
John