In Jody’s mind, Halloween ran from July 5th until the night before Thanksgiving. After the Independence Day holiday, grocery stores would start featuring bags of Halloween candy. Each week, Jody would buy another bag. “You never want to run out of candy” was his mantra. Before I knew it, there were at least a dozen bags of candy stuffed into a kitchen drawer. That was a little bit over the top, given that, normally, we only had about fifteen kids come knocking on our door. It took me a while to catch on. During the day, while I was at work, Jody was snacking on the accumulated sweets! This would continue after Halloween until he had polished off all the candy that was left over.

Jody also insisted that we (read that as “I”) carve a pumpkin. Our tradition started with Jody sketching out the face that he wanted carved in the pumpkin. He would sit back and laugh while I performed a lobotomy on the unsuspecting gourd. He chuckled as I exhibited my revulsion as I grabbed handfuls of guts from inside the pumpkin. Before we knew it, the surgery was over. We would light a votive candle, put it inside the pumpkin, and, turning off the lights, sit back and enjoy a few pieces of all that leftover candy.

Happy Halloween in Heaven. I’m sure the candy is sweet.

We drove from Paducah to Frankfort to be at the Memorial. It’s beautiful. We live in a community of Covid deniers. We cannot speak about how or why dad died without hearing negative comments about his heart problems, and how that’s what really killed him, not Covid.

Well, being at the Memorial feels like a home for our grief. No hiding, no lying. When I stood there and saw myself in the mirrored sphere, I became a part of it, and everyone else who comes to visit is a part of it too.

So, this is what it means. It’s a neutral, lovely, safe space.

Ben wanted to leave his mark on the world. He had energy, knowledge, and passion to share and so much to give. What he ultimately didn’t have was time. He lost his individuality and his dreams in the hospital and became just another body in a refrigerated truck. Since he can’t leave the mark he wanted to leave in Brooklyn, I want him to leave his mark everywhere I can — both tangibly and intangibly.

Rami’s Heart creates a space not only for a physical mark, but for reflection, to grieve with others, and to remember these individuals as the world moves on without them. They must not be forgotten — neither in our lifetime nor in the generations that come after us.

I lost my brother, Wilmard Santiago on April 15, 2020 at the height of the pandemic in New York City. Like so many others, we couldn’t be there for them. We couldn’t comfort them, hold their hand and tell them how much we loved them. We couldn’t have funerals for them.

I have added my brother’s name to so many memorials. I felt I needed to do this to keep his memory alive; to let people know he wasn’t just a number. He was a father, a son, a husband, a brother, a friend, and an all-around amazing human being. My family and I felt so lost and empty and felt we were robbed from giving him the honorable farewell he so deserved.

Then Rami’s Heart was created. I immediately added his name. Little did I know that it would become the first, permanent memorial in the US and in New Jersey, so close to home. I got the opportunity to visit and see firsthand the hearts filled with the names of loved ones lost to COVID. It was very emotional and sad to read the names and the notes left by loved ones. But at the same time it felt so peaceful. It gave me comfort that he was being honored and remembered as the wonderful human being that he was. I felt that I wasn’t alone in my pain.

I am so thankful for this permanent memorial and for the co-founders and all who helped and continue to maintain it so peaceful and serene. It was what many of us needed. My brother, Wilmard and my stepson Alberto Locascio are remembered there and I will forever be grateful to have a place to go to remember them and pray for them and all the innocent lives that were lost.

May they all rest in peace.

Having my father & also my uncle Gerald Girald Jr. memorialized at Rami’s Heart Covid-19 memorial helps me to cope and heal with their losses. I wanted their legacies to live on and for others to remember what good men they were in this world.

They were both very loving and hardworking fathers who’d do anything for their family. My father was a very healthy and lively person, he was full of energy before he contracted Covid and it literally sucked all the life right out of him. He got Covid pneumonia and it just got out of control. Same with my uncle. It’s very sad to know our loved ones passed in the hospital without family surrounding them.

I got to take my mother to visit Rami’s Heart in person over the summer of 2023 and the atmosphere is just so peaceful. The landscaping is just so beautifully set up and put together and I just love how they have a protective tunnel you can walk through to keep the rocks and stones safe from the elements of the weather and from the sun. As we walked to see the others who are memorialized I just prayed for everyone. I looked at every hand written rock, every engraved stone and every stepping stone. I just took it all in. I still can’t believe how many people we lost to Covid 19. It’s like having a terrible nightmare. It was such a tragic event in life and these innocent people didn’t deserve to die the way they did by this man made virus but it helps me realize me and my family aren’t alone in our grief.

We are all in this together and here for one another in our grieving process. It feels good to be a part of something that can keep the memories of our loved ones alive and I know each and every one of the people memorialized are looking down on us all. They are proud to know we’ll never forget them and that something like this does exist for the world to see. I’ll forever be grateful for Rima and Travis. This was an excellent idea they came up with and I’m so glad I reached out to Rima to help me in creating the stones for my father and uncle.