More than 55,000 Californians have died of COVID-19 in the last year. Their families have struggled to memorialize them as funerals and other gatherings were restricted. The sheer weight of so many lives lost moved Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer to tears multiple times during news briefings.
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Even those of us lucky enough to keep our jobs and our health have paid a price. We saved lives by complying with California’s strict stay-at-home orders and mask mandates. But we lost a sense of community and felt isolated and alone.
The trade-off almost became too much for Leslie Grossman, 49, an actress and third-generation Angeleno.