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lives remembered is our Siri's about people who have died of Cova 19, in Washington.
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So we wanted away Thio Joe, people who was being lost and the toll that this was taking.
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It was scary to see the range of people.
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When you can't identify any commonality, you think this could happen to me, you might see someone who resembles you or your grandfather or your uncle or your friend.
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In these stories, I have gone through obituaries every single week of the pandemic to find people who died of Copan 19.
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And there are some that stand out not because of the sadness, but because there's a comedy or there's something light about it.
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So I came across one for Thomas Do Par senior, and he sounded like quite a character.
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After four marriages that ended in divorce in four bankruptcies, he kept many a BA members gainfully employed.
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He had lived a wonderfully colorful life, and I don't think anyone was really sad that his life was coming to an end.
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I think it was more the circumstances, you know, that we weren't able to be there with him.
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I have ah, calendar reminder, you know, call grandpa because my dad's always been really good about call your grand parents, you know, and so I just can't bring myself toe delete that from my calendar, you know, like call Grandpa.
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Um and so it's kind of funny now, because when that reminder pops up on my phone every week, I can sit there and I can have a conversation with him.
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I know exactly how it would go.
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You know, it's like, Hey, sweetheart, how you doing?
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And he would always mix up my name Katie with my cousin Sadie's name, so he'd be like, Oh, hi, Sadie.
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How you doing?
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You know, like halfway through the call, it would be like, Oh, you know, he realizes it's me.
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Hey, was such a character.
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You know, he wasn't for everybody, but he was our character.
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You know, in lieu of flowers, please raise a glass of cheap, cheap scotch, two fingers measured with pinky and index.
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And they wrote to honor Mr Do Par raise your glass with cheap scotch.
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So I've come back to that obituary many times.
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Just when I when I need a laugh.
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Because through all of this sadness, there they are.
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There is laughter.
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It's so easy to be so overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.
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Americans are essentially living through a mass casualty event every single day, and that's very overwhelming.
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But when you go to the specific person and look at the individual lives that can help, and when you speak with their loved ones, perhaps writing a story about their loved one will help them with their own morning.
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Another colleague wrote about a grocery store cashier.
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Someone sent me a message saying, Thank you for the Siri's.
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He was my cashier.
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I had wondered what happened to him.
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So thank you so much for memorializing him.
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So knowing that we have a responsibility to our community is part of what keeps me going working on this Lives remembered.
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Siri's has been very difficult, but I consider it an honor.
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Thio be let into the lives of these family members during some of the most difficult parts of their life.