COVID-19 and Virtual Funerals

woman with mask

If anyone told me that COVID-19 would change our lives forever, I would have told that person “you’re nuts!” I remember seeing a post on Facebook saying, “do you know anyone with COVID-19?” At the time, I did not. Now, I know so many people who had it, have it, or who have died from it.

With the nice weather, the opening up of many countries, and people feeling relaxed, I’m sure we will see an uptick in cases. The worst part about this virus, you can’t be with your loved ones.

Zoom Funeral

Yesterday, I attended a Zoom funeral for an uncle who died of COVID-19. He was a good man and he left a wonderful legacy. He saw his children grow up, their children grow up and he even had great-grandchildren.

As I sat there and watching on Zoom, I couldn’t think but wonder if this were an alternate reality.

My uncle’s daughter, Michele, read the eulogies at the gravesite. She wore a mask. Since Phil was a war veteran, there were representatives there who handed his daughter a flag. They wore masks. The rabbi wore a mask.

The whole event was so emotional and upsetting. It would have been upsetting during normal circumstances but knowing that all his children, his grandchildren, and sister and brother couldn’t be at the gravesite because of COVID-19 and social distancing, it just made the whole thing worse.

It was a beautiful service and Michele made it special by reading everyone’s eulogies. But it just didn’t feel right.

People are losing their family members

It gets me so upset to hear that some people out-of-state don’t believe this is happening. Someone recently told me that his boss said this whole thing was a democratic hoax to get the President out of office. I told my friend to have his boss call me!

Almost everyone I know either lost someone, knows someone sick, or knows someone recovered from COVID-19. People are dying and it’s scary.

The other day, my friend told me both her parents passed away within short weeks of each other. Because of COVID-19, they were still waiting in the queue to be cremated.

When will this end?

I don’t have the answer for it but with enough people getting tested, social distancing and wearing masks, maybe we can control it. When I asked my nurse friend if there will be a day when we can relax, she said, “not before we all get it and they find a vaccine for it.”