Covid has taken so much from so many people and if you weren’t affected by it then you want Covid to be over and to live your normal lives. But for many of us, our grief from the trauma will never be over.

However the one thing that Covid has done is bring those who lost someone together and allowed us to form inseparable bonds. Over Zoom calls, I have met such wonderful, caring people who understand my loss more than anyone will ever know. They get what it feels like to take your loved one to a hospital and never see them again. To not be able to have a funeral for them, to grieve alone in your house because no one will come over because they are afraid they may catch it. 2020 was a brutal year.

I would not have made it this far without the support of various Covid groups and true friendships. I was lucky to get a call in May 2020 from Marlene who lost her brother Johnny to Covid a few days after my husband Mike. She has such empathy for me and although she didn’t lose her husband she can’t imagine what her life would be like without her husband David and she has such compassion for me. I also met Ed, who messaged me when I was sick and couldn’t make the Brooklyn Bridge Covid Remembrance Walk.

I have never met either of them face to face but I know these bonds will last a lifetime. I just wish I didn’t have to meet them in these circumstances but I know I could call them at a moment’s notice and they will be there for me.