In its cruel aftermath, the disease that brought this barrage of death alters rituals of the grieving process. Families say goodbye by video, or in a brief moment at a hospital bed while dressed in personal protective equipment. Funerals are small and distanced.
Most people who contract COVID-19 will survive, and age and specific underlying conditions play a role in who is most likely to die. But for each death, there s a web of family and friends left mourning.
Sharing these losses is difficult for many of the bereaved; it can be therapeutic, though a way to say goodbye, to honor and celebrate the people they loved.
Rose Amendola, 96, ScottsdaleCourtesy of Ted Amendola
Rose Amendola loved volunteering and education. She often reminded others to “study hard and make something of yourself.”
Her son, Ted Amendola, described her as a “caring conversationalist” whom he will miss talking with. She gave back to her community and was a strong matriarch of the family.
She most likely contracted COVID-19 in the memory care facility where she lived, Ted said. Rose died on Jan. 11 at age 96.
“She fought until the end,” Ted said. “An hour before she passed her vitals were normal. She wasn’t afraid of dying.”
Rose is survived by her children, Carol, Joyce and Ted, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Noa Marcela Bailey was a mother and friend, and she was motivated.
“Noa was filled with life and energy. She was motivated to wake up and live every day to the fullest,” said Susan Vie, Noa’s best friend and self-proclaimed kindred spirit.
Noa and Susan would hike together on the weekends and then walk to their neighborhood Starbucks where they would “just talk for hours on end.”
Every day, Noa would go for a hike and take a photo of the sunset.
Noa was compassionate, determined, optimistic and a warrior, Susan said.
She was known for giving others a boost, telling them, “You are unique, you are special, you are chosen; You aren t gold, you aren t silver; You are magic, you are dust,” Susan said.