Quarantine journal -- those we have lost

Life during COVID-19 has been a challenge, facing the reality of death on a daily basis. I'm fortunate to not have to deal with death frequently in my work, As a chiropractor my patients tend to be healthy and health-oriented. About a month or so ago I learned that one of my favorite patients had died (apparently from a heart attack). She was one of the kindest people -- always with something nice to say. You could be covered in mud and she'd remark about how the brown brings out your eyes. Then a few weeks later I learned that a husband and wife who were patients had both died: the husband from cancer, the wife from COVID-19. It all starts to hit home.

The first COVID-19 death close to my family was a friend of my father's who he worked with. The guy was 74. Then a resident on my dad's aunt's floor at the retirement home died. Then the brother of a high school friend of my brother's died. Then my friend's father died. If we were playing the Kevin Bacon Game: COVID-19 Edition, I'd be two separations away from these people -- a little too close for my liking. So when people try to minimize the virus and blow off the precautions as being overkill, I just start listing these people.