I stand there, my right shoulder pressed hard against the cold, unforgiving metal of your door frame. Your photos are gone. The sweet grand babies that graced your walls, erased... your soft fuzzy blankets, your snuggly slippers, your sweet smile... My heart aches so hard that it squishes out from the corners of my eyes. Unlike parents, nurses do have favorites. The ones who always make us smile, or laugh, or remind us of the real reason that we do what we do. For me, you were that person. Your sweet smile and your cheerful words never failed to brighten my day! Thank you my friend, you will never be forgotten.
I stand there, outside the entrance to what used to be your hall. Now it’s the lockdown unit where the bravest and best among us fight with all they have to beat the horrible odds that our adversary stacks against us. I truly did not think that anything would take you, and yet you’re gone... your giggle, your curses, your attempts to slap me silly for an infraction that occurred so vividly behind your beautiful eyelids... you with all your vivacious life and spontaneous laughter. I am so grateful I got to know you! You taught me things that no one else could. Thank you my friend, you will never be forgotten.
I stand there, my hand brushing the hair from your eyes and the tears from mine. You are but a shell of the human you once were. This enemy we fight has not yet stolen the breath from your body, but by its isolating nature has taken all the breath from your soul. Loneliness is etched in your face, even as you sleep. My heart breaks... I remember the first day I met you, how you hugged me so fiercely, thanking me profusely for some small thing I did for you. Your generosity and affection constantly amazed me. Thank you my friend, you will never be forgotten...
I stand there, on my staircase, my eyes on your signature hanging on my wall. I can still picture you the last time I saw you, a giant of a man in every way, striding across the parking lot towards the church where I was about to be married. Your bride of so many years proudly on your arm. As I stand here in my little house the enormity of what the world has lost in you overwhelms me. As a child I thought that your office had to be the best place on earth. As a teenager when I hit my growth spurt it was you and your tremendous height that convinced me that being tall wasn’t so bad. When I fell in love for the first time and got myself one thoroughly broken heart, you wiped my tears. Your giant hands set two broken bones for me, and your giant hugs soothed my bruised and battered heart many times. You gave me such a gift just by being yourself! Thank you my friend, you will never be forgotten.
I stand here, alone in the night, the wind whipping around me... and I feel the pulse of the pain of the world in my heart... we have all lost so much. This virus has stolen lovers, friends, parents, children, siblings, relatives, and enemies. The grief in the world is palpable. So wherever you are right now, and in whatever way you are fighting this monstrous disease, be that shopping online, working in health care, practicing safe and effective prevention when at work or out and about, forgoing important parties in the hope of slowing its spread, whatever you are doing, I want to say this to you: Thank you my friend, you will never be forgotten.
