ruth

The mother of an old and dear friend passed away last week.  Ruth -- I will use only her first name to protect the privacy of the family -- was the kind of person who you could only love.  She was a completely devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend.  Back in the stone ages, when I was in college, she was the one who would occasionally host her sons' friends and provide us with a nice home cooked meal around a large and boisterous dinner table.  She was a loud, loving, boisterous and sometimes profane sounding person, who left a mark on all of us.

I am told that she is also a statistic that our present administration would just like to forget exists, but cannot in the long run ignore.

Ruth was diagnosed with Covid back in March.  While she made an initial recovery, there were debilitating effects which required her to undergo extensive physical therapy.  Several months later, in the course of her recovery, she suffered a severely broken leg in an accident that required a number of surgeries.  After each one, my friend tells me he could see her strength ebbing.  Indeed, about a month ago, on the occasion of my birthday, my friend told me Ruth was fading away.

He also told me he blamed cadet bone spurs.

No, he did not blame him for Ruth contracting Covid.  She could have caught anywhere from anyone or anything.  Instead, he blamed him for his callous response to a pandemic that has resulted in vast numbers of unnecessary deaths.  He blamed him for creating a task force manned not with experts in epidemiogy, infectious disease and public health, but with political sycophants who appeared to be more interested in protecting the president's image than in finding a cure or therapeutic.  Most of all, he blamed him for minimizing the virus and the count of those who contracted or died from the it so as to make himself look better, Ruth now being one of those.  Ruth's death certificate may state that her cause of death was complications from her numerous post-accident surgeries, but my friend and I agree that Covid-19 was a contributing factor.

In this time of political and cultural polarization, we must not lose sight of the fact that the casualties of this time are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and friends to all of us.  Ruth was one of them.  Minimizing death counts, calling them fake news and demonizing anyone who tries to say otherwise is an insult to the memory of all of the victims, such as Ruth.  Please remember that before you start your daily rant against everyone who does not necessarily believe as you do.

And please remember to wear your mask outside and social distance as possible.  Do it for Ruth and my friend's family.

May Ruth's memory be a blessing.