So we wanted away Thio Joe, people who was being lost and the toll that this was taking.

It was scary to see the range of people.

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.

In these stories, I have gone through obituaries every single week of the pandemic to find people who died of Copan 19.

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.

So I came across one for Thomas Do Par senior, and he sounded like quite a character.

After four marriages that ended in divorce in four bankruptcies, he kept many a BA members gainfully employed.

He had lived a wonderfully colorful life, and I don't think anyone was really sad that his life was coming to an end.

I think it was more the circumstances, you know, that we weren't able to be there with him.

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.

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.

I know exactly how it would go.

You know, it's like, Hey, sweetheart, how you doing?

And he would always mix up my name Katie with my cousin Sadie's name, so he'd be like, Oh, hi, Sadie.

How you doing?

You know, like halfway through the call, it would be like, Oh, you know, he realizes it's me.

Hey, was such a character.

You know, he wasn't for everybody, but he was our character.

You know, in lieu of flowers, please raise a glass of cheap, cheap scotch, two fingers measured with pinky and index.

And they wrote to honor Mr Do Par raise your glass with cheap scotch.

So I've come back to that obituary many times.

Just when I when I need a laugh.

Because through all of this sadness, there they are.

There is laughter.

It's so easy to be so overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.

Americans are essentially living through a mass casualty event every single day, and that's very overwhelming.

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.

Another colleague wrote about a grocery store cashier.

Someone sent me a message saying, Thank you for the Siri's.

He was my cashier.

I had wondered what happened to him.

So thank you so much for memorializing him.

So knowing that we have a responsibility to our community is part of what keeps me going working on this Lives remembered.

Siri's has been very difficult, but I consider it an honor.

Thio be let into the lives of these family members during some of the most difficult parts of their life.