Musings in a Time of Crisis XXII

They Had Names, They Had Lives

          for all who have died and are mourned

Say her name. Say his. Start here:

Leta, 22, nonverbal special-needs daughter.

Kevin, 87, retired judge, presided over three World Trade Center
     trials.

Joe, 61, pure, note-perfect voice of a country-singer.

Chad, 49, always cheerful, an inquirer, a peacemaker.

John-Sebastian, 59, Franciscan monk, first to die in Washington, D.C.

Lorena, 59, mother, advocate and hero to a Queens transgender
     community.

Ellis, 85, one of the great music greats, said to be an even greater
     father.

Leilani, a.k.a. "Butterfly," 27, loved helping her Giant customers.

Howard, Chicago blues devotee, always a big hugger.

Amihilda, 76, registered nurse for 50 years, believed to have died
     alone.

Michelle, campaigner for justice, equity, dignity for all, one of
     the "Mothers Out Front."

Lamine, 50, shared a passion for African drumming and dancing.

Benjamin and Kathryn, husband and wife, died three days apart.

Anne Mae, 82, known for sweet potato pies, and daughter Connie, 64,
     days after her mother.

Jaimala, 65, designer of saris and tapestries.

Dianne, Stella, and Maria, the three sisters, dying within a month of
     each other.

Mike, over 60, called a "heart survivor."

"Miss Minnie," no symptoms.

Motoko, 92, the last of the surviving "Monuments Women."

Newborn Baby Girl, no chance to be named.

____________________________

All of the above names represent people who have died of COVID-19. (I did not use last names to respect families' privacy.) Many lived in the region known as the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia), the rest in other states. Ages were not always given. The stories of these individuals are told in print and online articles, opinion pieces, and obituaries and death notices, in The Washington Post, by NPR and  the Associated Press, in a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, newspaper called The Advocate, and on the Website COVID Memorial, to which anyone may add information about a lost loved one. May they all, no matter their station in life, rest eternally in peace.