Wear a friggin mask

On Facebook a few days ago, I saw a link to an obituary for the mother-in-law of a guy I knew pretty well back in my Poughkeepsie Journal days. We are not “friends” per se, but we run into each other from time to time at Home Depot and around town. One of the benefits of social media is the “media” part – the dissemination of information. Back in the “old days” I would have seen this obituary in the morning newspaper. Anyway, obituaries have become far more personal over the years and I wanted to share the first few sentences of this one, because of the statements and comments made in regard to the pandemic. For obvious privacy reasons, I’m not including the name of the deceased. Wear a mask when appropriate, wash your hands and pray for an end to this soon.

(Well-loved Old Woman), 97, of the Town of Poughkeepsie died Sunday, January 10, 2021, weeks after contracting COVID 19 at her nursing home. Sadly, the virus proved too strong an enemy even for someone who had overcome so much in her life. She grew up in a generation that was not afraid to act for the greater good -as a young woman, she saw her brothers go off to fight in WWII; yet she died during a time when people are too selfish to wear a mask to protect others. Another casualty to a virus that has taken too many lives. She died alone, visiting prohibited, and end of life visits via an iPad. She, like over 370,000 Americans before her, deserved better. She was a social butterfly who loved to be around people which made her death alone even more cruel.