2020 will be remembered as the year of COVID, the year of forest fires and, seemingly, the year of plain bad luck. I remember thinking the other day that things couldn’t get any worse, but sure enough, they did. 

On Halloween night, I lost one of the most important people in my life—my grandfather. As if his passing weren’t difficult enough, restrictions due to the pandemic created new complications. When we went to visit him at the hospital, the rules were strict: everyone had to wear a mask and only three people could be in the room at a time. Had my grandfather recovered, we would have had to wait until he was released, but with doctors knowing he wouldn’t make it, they deemed us “essential visitors.” 

As we took the elevator up to his room, I started thinking about how fortunate we were to be able to see him one last time. Luckily, he did not die of COVID, so we sat with him and held his hand, but sadly, I have heard too many stories of families having to say goodbye to a loved one over the phone because visiting was too dangerous. 

Following my grandfather’s death, a Catholic funeral was held as he had requested. However, only 50 people could attend and everyone had to wear masks and social distance. The most difficult part was social distancing, as families tend to console each other through hugs; my family could only console each other through elbow bumps.

This experience reminded me of not only how important it is to cherish the time you have with loved ones, but also the need to take the virus seriously. Currently, the U.S. has over 10 million COVID cases and over 250,000 deaths, according to the Center for Disease Control. Simply put, it is crucial we all do our part to slow the spread of the virus by wearing masks and social distancing, because no family deserves to say goodbye to their loved one through a plexiglass window.