Updated Jan. 24
ST. PETERSBURG â The family took their seats under the green cemetery tent and passed hand sanitizer row to row.
Yes, Lord, my life is yours drifted from the speakers. Boyzell Hosey prayed in front, facing the bone-white casket and the empty space beside it.
A man from the funeral home passed out two memorial cards.
In Loving Memory: Amos Hosey.
Forever in our hearts: Roy Hosey.
Boyzell wiped his glasses and nodded as the bishop talked of trusting the hand of God. It was Nov. 21. His elderly father had died on the 5th. His older brother had passed on the 15th. Soon there would be a memorial for his brother-in-law, Bob, who had died in between. Boyzell himself had fought COVID-19 and was only a week out of the hospital, where his sister had gone for treatment, too.