FIVE! That's the total number of blood relatives I've lost to Covid.

[NurseJackie]

Plus another two that were 2nd-cousin in-laws... that I never even met. The five were from Georgia, and the two were from Florida. (The most recent death was today.) Ugh. (All Trumpers. All anti-vaxxers.)

I'm not even sad. More angry than anything else. I'm over caring. I'm over being upset. I have no more sympathy or pity left... not even for my own relatives!

You know... I'm very tempted to leave public comments on the funeral home's obituary obituary section that reminds everyone to get their Covid shot and wear their masks in public. (So far, for EVERY relative that's died, there has been NO mention in their obituary that it was related to Covid.)

They're all in denial.

DISCUSSION QUESTION: How many relatives have YOU lost to Covid? How many friends or acquaintances/colleagues have you lost to covid?

[SheltieLover]

1. So sorry for your losses

I would make those notations, where possible.

Take good care!

[Efilroft Sul]

2. Lost my wife's aunt before the vaccine, lost a high school friend after the vaccine.

The aunt was in an assisted living facility for her Parkinson's, which was a tragedy; the high school friend was an unvaxxed senior care nurse, which was a farce.

[Siwsan]

3. One good friend and one colleague

I was worried I'd lose my brother, too, but he recovered. They all caught Covid BEFORE the vaccine was available.

[JohnSJ]

4. Sorry Jackie for your loss. I understand your anger

[ProfessorGAC]

5. None In Either Family

One brother in-law got it, a few months vaccines were available. But, not a severe case.
Other than that we've been pretty fortunate.

[LisaL]

6. I just lost my relative who was vaxxed and boosted.

But immuno-compromised. So apparently vaccine did my relative no good because of their immune system being compromised (on immuno suppressant medication).
Covid lead to covid pneumonia and then death despite being treated in the hospital.

[NurseJackie]

11. ...

[Cha]

27. So Sorry, LisaL..

[LoisB]

35. I am so sorry for your loss.

[sheshe2]

59. I am so sorry, LisaL

[Catherine Vincent]

66. Very sorry for your loss

🙁

[NewHendoLib]

7. No losses, a few infected.

[NurseJackie]

9. I think it's odd that in my family circle, I lost nobody PRE-vaccine.

This has all happened AFTER the vaccine was available. It's embarrassing to even admit that these people are related to me by blood or marriage. It's their own fault. They chose this.

Idiots.

[Quakerfriend]

8. So sorry, Jackie

I hear you! The frustration is unbearable!!
I sent the following text to my unvaxxed family members imploring them to reconsider getting vaccinated.
“Covid is highly inflammatory and systemic- affecting EVERY part of your body- starting with the epithelial cells that line all of your blood vessels, lungs etc.
Every condition one has- whether it be diabetes, heart disease, depression, arthritis or gout etc. is made worse by Covid- with damage to the heart being the greatest.
This has been proven on a molecular level over the past 18 months. Covid even damages mitochondria- hence the chronic fatigue. It is not just the flu!
There are chronic, long term effects. Even those who never knew they had Covid and were completely asymptomatic, can have long haul Covid”

They just don’t want to hear it …

Thankfully, I have not lost any family yet.
But, one has been very ill in hospital and will likely require O2 at home- He’s 48.

[Cha]

10. NONE.. Thank Goodness.. & they're

all Dems who play by the fucking Rules!

[NurseJackie]

13. I'm glad to hear it, friend.

[Cha]

26. Mahalo, Jackie..

and sorry to hear about your relatives.. such a waste of life.. thanks to trump & DeSantis & all the other brain dead magats.

[luvs2sing]

12. I'm so sorry.

No relatives, so far. I’ve lost two close friends, including one of my oldest friends, the first friend I met in high school. One was vaxxed and boosted but was immunocompromised because of a kidney transplant. He died a month ago today. The other died just before vaccines were available. I doubt he would have gotten vaccinated. He didn’t mask, either. One of those stupid ones, sadly.

Also a former choir director who I was once close to. He died very early on. I think he was one of the first deaths in Columbus. A choir friend who I didn’t know well died, as did the husband of another choir friend. The husband was one of the first nursing home deaths in Ohio, and the other was before vaccinations were available. I don’t know what precautions, if any, she took. I’ve been extremely lucky.

[hamsterjill]

14. No blood relatives but a large number in my circle of acquaintances.

Fifteen deaths last count. Most before the vaccines were available.

[Torchlight]

15. One friend in June of 21

Not vaxxed, never took precautions. Not a political statement on his part, just apathetic/ignorant about the virus. Over and over again, he'd say "I'll never get it."

[maxsolomon]

16. 2. My uncle, maybe my cousin

No one really talked about my cousin, but she was found dead in her bed in the morning. I suspect it was Covid - or drugs.

My elderly Uncle was infected at Xmas 2020, just before the vaccines came out.

[MissB]

17. Two so far, plus

My stepsister’s husband died pretty early on in the pandemic- I want to say last May? He was an alcoholic and was quite compromised. It was before vaccinations were available.

My mother’s husband died more recently- late last year. He didn’t get vaccinated. Neither did my mom, but she survived… barely. At his virtual funeral, his adult child made a point at the end to get vaccinated and that had he been vaccinated, he would’ve been alive.

My sibling’s partner lost 11 family members prior to the vaccines being available. It was a cascading event of one person coming back from the hospital with the virus and then folks catching it in succession, many of them dying.

[mercuryblues]

18. mY father, before the vaccine

A cousin just as the vaccine was released.

Too many in my family to count. Some twice.

[EastMeetsWest]

19. Hmmmm

I don't know anyone here in Japan who has even had Covid. But we all wear masks when out in public, or use public transportation. One of my local gyms takes my temperature whenever I go (it's always below the threshold), while the other just asks me to fill out a form stating that I felt no problems coming to the gym, and felt nothing unusual after my workout. In both cases, I have to wear a mask, and in one case I have to "disinfect" every machine I use after a workout.

[Cassidy]

34. What a wonderful thing it must be to live in a civilized country.

[whathehell]

44. Please..They.have their "uncivilized" problems too.

[EastMeetsWest]

64. Yeah, there are some "uncivilized" problems

They still use hanging as a form of execution, for example, although executions are very rare and are mainly limited to perpetrators of horrendous crimes, like the guy who intentionally drove a van into a pedestrian mall, then got out and started slashing people back in 2008. He's been on death row since 2015.

[whathehell]

78. Thank you.

Last edited Wed Jan 19, 2022, 07:23 PM - Edit history (1)

They also discriminate against at least one resident, non-Japanese ethnic group.

http://yris.yira.org/comments/2873

[EastMeetsWest]

81. Still, Japan has been very good to me

in the decades that I've been here.

[Tetrachloride]

20. 2 elderly former teachers and 1 disabled important never-met person in my broader corcle

None among personally met friends.

And one celebrity relative of a past friend

[BlackSkimmer]

21. That's awful. Sorry to hear that.

I’m the only one I know who has had Covid, but I’m alive and well.

I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

[LuckyCharms]

22. My brother, pre-vaccine.

I'm sorry for your losses, NurseJackie.

[NurseJackie]

30. ...

[Tree Lady]

23. Only one person tested positive

And she works in public daily, wearing mask and fully vaccinated. Never had any symptoms.

But you got me thinking most of my whole family lives on west coast where most people are trying harder to fight this and vaccinated.

My younger daughter in Texas is exception she and hubby work at home, two sons but they are careful teens with masks.

I have only one family member unvaccinated, my grandson. Stupid reasons for not getting vaxed he has just been lucky so far. But he lives in CA in a very highly vaccinated area.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

24. I am so sorry for your losses

[Ms. Toad]

25. No relatives -

One student, one friend. Probably more I've forgotten.

Too many to count with long but "mild" cases.

The student was unvaccinated. The friend was pre-vaccine (included as one of the early deaths in the NYTimes front page list of individuals who died).

My immediate family (parents, siblings, and our kids) has been very lucky - only my daughter and - likely - me have contracted it. On my spouse's side (far less careful) maybe half of my daughter's cousines have had it.

[Wicked Blue]

28. How awful

I'm so sorry for your losses

[Initech]

29. Zero, but I know people who have had it.

So yeah it's real and scary. And anti-vaxxers can go fuck themselves with a rusty bayonet.

[BigmanPigman]

31. I lost no one and only one friend/relative has had Covid

She was in FL and vaxxed. Maybe my small Dem family and mainly Dem friends have proven that vaxxes work. Everyone I know has been vaxxed.

[texasfiddler]

32. I have lost two blood relatives and two friends from Highschool.

One of my blood relatives contracted the disease prior to vaccine development. Damn good musician and good person. No doubt he would have received the vaccine. The rest are GOP types. I loved them, but they chose un-wisely.

[Gore1FL]

33. I am sorry you had to go through this, even if you are past it all.

I've been fortunate. My siblings are sensible.

[Evolve Dammit]

36. Two dead. Others sick and survived. It has made me feel disgust for people like I never felt before.

[PatrickforB]

37. Well, I'm sorry for your loss - both the family members, and your lost sympathy.

This pandemic has been a slow-burn trauma for millions. It's awful, and I haven't lost anyone, but certainly have had several colleagues go down with COVID, and a couple have what is called long COVID. Sadly, one is a Q type person who won't get vaxxed. I just cannot understand how someone would go through all kinds of stuff - drinking urine, putting cattle dewormer in the rectum or whatever they do, drinking bleach when they could just get a shot and be so much safer.

The one thing we could do that would solve most of the problem is impose a vaccine mandate. The courts won't let it happen, of course, but it would save so many lives. So much pain in the world, and these trumpers just make it worse.

[paleotn]

38. That's tough. Even if you're more angry than sad.

No fatalities. Sister in law and her husband had cases last winter. No other cases that I'm aware of.

[Totally Tunsie]

39. We've been very fortunate. Only family to have it

is a cousin who contracted it before the vaccine was available. She was extremely ill: first intubated, then transferred to Boston hospital from suburbs for lung transplant, then given Last Rights b/c her passing was imminent. She no sooner hit the deepest point when her symptoms suddenly reversed. Another couple of weeks in the hospital (for a total of 4 months), and she came home. Now, however, she has Covid Long Haul - brain fog, difficult memory and verbal expression. Chance of improvement is unknown at this point.

Two old time (before TDFG) family friends also - both "humpers" and anti-vax. One is current, and she just got out of ICU. The other had it twice, both times badly including being intubated.

My sympathies, NJ, for your losses. I understand your emotion.

[barbtries]

40. I'm so sorry.

That is a lot. I have not lost any close family members. My son's fiancee's grandmother died and it's not known if it was COVID, but even if it wasn't I still say she died because of COVID. She was in her 80s, and still working. Around Thanksgiving 2020, she was exposed at work (and at the time we thought possibly at my son's place, since his fiancee had been exposed at her job, but she never got it).

She got sick and went to the ER. She was diagnosed with pneumonia. They sent her home.

The next morning her sister went to check on her and she was dead. I believe she was not admitted because the hospital was too full of COVID patients and they triaged her on home to die. Her death was sudden and a complete shock to her loved ones.

My grandson's GF's grandmother died; her mother's boyfriend died. She refuses to get vaxxed. go figure.

I do have 2 great uncles who died in the 1918 pandemic.

[LENNY0229]

41. How many unvaxxed? Vaccine probably won't die.

[NurseJackie]

45. All unvaxxed. It's embarrassing.

[Farmer-Rick]

42. Two dead friends before the vaccine

One of the friends was an emergency room nurse who had diabetes. Her husband caught it too but survived. He has long COVID now. He's always tired and constantly coughing even now almost a year later.

I know a couple of people who described having illnesses just like COVID but are pretending they never had it. They still look sickly. They are all anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers around here so I guess just admitting you had it will get you kicked out of the crazy club.

[aggiesal]

43. 1 aunt and 1 2nd cousin n/t

[DFW]

46. No family or real friends, a few acquaintances got it and died

All unvaxxed. A few family members have had it, but none with severe symptoms.

My heart goes out to those who did all they could to prevent infection, got it anyway, and suffered severely, whether fatally or not. Sitting by their bedside while the life wheezes out of them can't be much of a consolation.

To those who refuse precautionary measures, I struggle to feel more kindly toward them than I do to someone who enjoys playing Russian Roulette. Sure, your chances are only one in six every time, but sooner or later, you WILL blow your brains out.

[iamateacher]

47. We have lost two aunts, plus....

Both were in their 90's. I lost a former student also, he was 20. Also my son's former roomate. In his early 30's. My cousin's son's groom in his wedding. He was in his late 20's. Tragic. My son worked at at a nursing home, lost 19, originally. I could go on....All of these were before vaccines were available.

[niyad]

48. No relatives (I don't have a m y). Three friends, before the vaccine. Ten people

Infected, but recovered. Seven were before the vaccine. One STILL has no sense of taste 16 months later.

[wendyb-NC]

49. So sorry for your loss

It is so sad, and frustrating that people malign the Covid-19 vaccines, and health guidelines to prevent the spread and end up dying of the horrible disease, as a result of being sucked into the putrid lies spouted by that sociopath leader of the other party, which has become a cult.

[mwooldri]

50. Firstly condolences. My answer: none lost. But...

... Omnicron is taking a mighty toll on people. My youngest son caught it (probably at a school basketball game he kinda had to go to - no school bus drivers so those waiting on rides home went to basketball game to watch). My wife (lab tech at hospital) caught it too, presumably from him. I might have been exposed on my home visit weekend before last but no symptoms with me... so if I had it I didn't know about it.

For both of them started out with headache and stuffy nose. Then a fever. My youngest son is over his now. My wife is taking a bit longer to shake it off, but no one has had to go to the hospital for treatment. All in our household are boosted save for my youngest, who has yet to receive his boost. I'm thankful we're all vaccinated and mostly boosted... I shudder to think what it might be like without the vaccine.

[dwayneb]

51. Two lost to covid

A co-worker in his 40's. Wife of a friend in her 50's. Several others had hospital stays , some on the vent.

[Meowmee]

52. I lost my beloved father

And it was a murder on many levels, is unforgivable and should not have happened. I also have longterm covid myself and again it did not have to happen. Had the proper response been put into effect or if we had left for Canada years ago or even at the onset he would be alive and I am sure I would not be lh who now had ptsd from all of this. We would have had a much better life there as well.

[orleans]

67. i'm so very sorry -- for the loss of your father, for the long haul covid, and

everything you've been through.
it sounds like you've gone through a lot both physically and emotionally.

[Meowmee]

73. Thanks

It is something I will never recover from that is sure. Imwant people to know that some of us have been through a living hell and we will not recover and move on.

[ShazzieB]

53. I haven't lose anyone . . . that I know of. 🤞

The reason I put it that way is because my husband and I both have cousins we're not in touch with, some of whom are likely trumpers. I hope that if there was a death, we'd hear about it, but I can't say I'm absolutely sure we would.

The only relative I know of who's had covid is my husband's brother. He's in a nursing home, and he came down with it early on, when ovid was sweeping through nursing homes and vaccines were still just a distant hope. With his health issues, I would have thought he'd be a likely candidate for a bad outcome, but he came through it just fine and has since been vaxxed and boostered.

I should probably add that all of our parents, aunts, and uncles, as well as my husband's older sister, were deceased well before covid reared its ugly head. I'm thankful that we didn't have to worry about them, to be honest. Especially since I'm pretty sure some of them would have become Trumpers if they'd been around in 2016. Especially my sister in law. Bil is liberal like us, but she was a hard core conservative.

As far as friends go, neither of us is in touch with many people we grew up or went to school with. The ones we know about are all okay, except the husband of one old friend of mine who has what sounds like long covid, from the way she described it in a letter.

So basically, we've gotten off pretty easy so far. My heart goes out to you, Nurse Jackie, and everyone else who has had losses due to this plague. I hope and pray this pandemic will be over soon.

[ShazzieB]

54. I haven't lost anyone . . . that I know of. 🤞

The reason I put it that way is because my husband and I both have cousins we're not in close touch with, some of whom are likely trumpers. I hope that if there was a death, we'd hear about it, but I can't say I'm absolutely sure we would.

The only relative I know of who's had covid is my husband's brother. He's in a nursing home, and he came down with it early on, when the virus was sweeping through nursing homes and vaccines were still just a distant hope. With his health issues, I would have thought he'd be a likely candidate for a bad outcome, but he came through it just fine and has since been vaxxed and boostered.

I should probably add that all of our parents, aunts, and uncles, as well as my husband's older sister, were deceased well before covid reared its ugly head. I'm thankful that we didn't have to worry about them, to be honest. Especially since I'm pretty sure some of them would have become Trumpers if they'd been around in 2016. Especially my sister in law. Bil is liberal like us, but she was a hard core conservative.

As far as friends go, neither of us is in touch with many people we grew up or went to school with. The ones we know about are all okay, except the husband of one old friend of mine who has what sounds like long covid, from the way she described it in a letter.

So basically, we've gotten off pretty easy so far. My heart goes out to you, Nurse Jackie, and everyone else who has had losses due to this plague. I hope and pray this pandemic will be over soon.

[LAS14]

55. Husband's uncle died in isolation because he had Covid.

He didn't die from Covid. He caught it in the hospital and so family members could no longer visit in person.

[LiberalFighter]

56. I don't have a clue how many. But this might be interesting.

The obituary for a 3rd cousin 2x removed had the following in the obituary. She died Nov 2020.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the burial service will be private, ....

Save lives. Wear a mask.

===
I have 20 relatives died in 2021 and 48 in 2022 that I see in my genealogy tree. I only know of the one above that died from Covid. This is from a list of over 20,000 that are considered related.

There have been several fellow retirees that have died from it. Including spending time in the hospital.

[FakeNoose]

57. I'm so sorry NurseJackie! What a horrible statistic

I'm from a quite large extended family, and we're all vaccinated and boosted. I have 3 young nephews who caught Covid (mild form) last year, and also a brother-in-law. But everybody's OK now. So far we've managed to cheat the Grim Reaper. Knock on wood!



May your family members Rest In Peace. And may you find solace in your memories of them from happier days.

[iemanja]

58. My brother and his 2 sons got COVID

but they are doing okay. All are vaxxed.

I'm sorry for the loss of your family members.

[sheshe2]

60. I am so sorry, Jackie.

I haven't lost anyone.

I do have two great nieces with COVID. One age 2 the other 13. They are doing okay. Both families very careful and fully vaxed. the 2 year old not illegible.

[calimary]

61. Haven't lost anybody, as far as I've heard.

Everybody in our (extended) family is playing by the rules.

Thank You, Dear God.


I’m so sorry for what COVID’s done to your loved ones, NurseJackie.

We all need one another. And we all need one another remaining healthy, careful, resolute, and in steady fighting shape!

[rootin tootin]

62. So far that I know...

First, sorry for your loss. Denial aside, reach back into your past and I there may be some happy memories.

So far that I know, 2 with another unfortunately on the way.

All non-blood related. Not that it matters all that much.

Peace...
-Rootin

[catrose]

63. Stepdaughter's grandmother in a nursing home, 1st year. Last year, ex-husband's brother.

No one close,but still. Stepdaughter & k8ds just had it but were vaxxed.

[Raine]

65. No relatives or family members but

one internet friend who was fully vaccinated and boosted and still ended up on a ventilator and then dying. I think her age worked against since she was in her mid 80s. I never met her in real life but I miss her cheerful emails and posting in a little group she was part of.

R-I-P Shirley 🌹♥️

[orleans]

68. my circle isn't that big, neither is my family

but my daughter's MIL had covid in the fall of 2020 and was hospitalized--along with her partner (who was a trumper from what i could tell). he died. MIL had covid related stroke, screwed up her memory / thinking--long hauler. the fallout was huge, my daughter and her husband had to move his mother out of the state she was living in so she could stay with my kid until they found a place/residence for her to live. i've helped as much as i could/can but the day to day stress, doctor appointments, etc really landed on my daughter (even tho she had just had a baby).

while it was before vaccines, i'm sure they listened to the trump philosophy as far as other precautions were concerned. what a crime.

i don't know if you should leave a vax/mask comment on their obit. pages -- but i certainly understand you wanting to.

[malaise]

69. None so far

But some friends and colleagues

[Spider Jerusalem]

70. The only blood relative I know of who died of covid was a seventh cousin

and I only know that because it was in the news and it's an uncommon enough family surname that I know anyone who has it is going to be related to me. This guy was a Republican, but not a Trumper; no idea how he felt about vaccines.

[Emile]

71. My wife lost 2 right wing cousins.

[Demovictory9]

72. none so far... knock on wood

[Tom Rinaldo]

74. That's horrible

And I know that you were pushed away from them by their defiant denial. You are a caring person, you would naturally feel grief, not anger and a lack of empathy, over their needless deaths that they brought upon themselves, while they contributed to the pandemic that threatens us all through their refusal to get vaccinated.

I've been blessed so far. No extended family members (that I know of anyway) have been lost to Covid. My sister and her children's families have all taken it very seriously and have remained safe. A few friends have gotten Covid, but all have recovered. I know a few people who have died, but none that I knew well. I live in upstate New York and I am being extremely cautious during this surge.

Stay safe, may we all get through this to better days

[NurseJackie]

75. Thanks. You're right. It was needless.

Thanks. You're right. It was needless. They did contribute to this mess. Who else did they pass it on to in their community?

These are people that I knew... that I grew up with... that I'd occasionally see at family gatherings (or occasionally get a Christmas card from). Politics and church aside, they were okay people. I wasn't close to them, but they were family anyway.

Even if they had been vaxxed and died anyway... I would not have been heartbroken, but I would have felt pity and grieved a little at their loss.

First and second cousins ... all gone. Leaving behind spouses, children and grandchildren... for no other reason than to prove their loyalty to Trump. (And I doubt that their deaths will even matter or put scratch or dent in their devotion to the Trump cult.)

I guess it's a Georgia-thing (or the funeral home director just uses the same template for all the obituaries) but they were all "called home by the Lord" or "Jesus" or "Heavenly Father". They didn't die. They were "called home"... they were "needed in heaven". Ugh.

No! They were stupid and they sacrificed themselves on the altar of the GOP and Trump.

I'm related to idiots.

[AwakeAtLast]

76. Lost my Uncle on New Year's Day last year.

I blame TFG because vaccines were available, but rolled out too slowly. I got mine on January 15th.

My Dad survived it the previous October, but barely.

Many of my parents' friends and quite a few acquaintances in our community have died.

I'm in one of the reddest counties in Illinois.

[fescuerescue]

77. Everyone in extended family has gotten Covid except for me. Thankfully everyone has recovered

I did lose my neighbor to it. Nice man. He is missed.

[Nixie]

79. Sorry to hear this, NJ, but if they were Trumpers, I can see why it's hard to have sympathy.

The information has been out there long enough and their decisions have cost them, just hopefully they haven't taken anyone else down as a result of their decisions.

I have a very small family, and any extended family are in New York and I don't have contact with. BUT, Covid finally started getting close to us on New Year's Eve! We got a text from my husband's co-worker who had to tell us he tested positive for COVID, so of course we both had to get tested. We had just left my elderly mother's house early in the evening to avoid the crazies and got that news. So we have had to get on the testing wheelhouse -- finding locations, waiting in line. edit: I had 2 negative tests; my husband had 3 negatives, phew.

We figured it was a matter of time before we had to come up with these testing plans, as our neighbor tested positive, then another neighbor. People from his work are still dropping out. One of my doctor's offices wasn't answering for days. Finally the main hospital operators told me they had been hit with COVID. It is getting close to everyone. On and on!

It's a sad state of affairs that I was thrilled to find another COVID testing place that you just wait in your car, little wait time and fairly quick results. That's what is giving me joy! Sad...

[NurseJackie]

80. Your thoughts mirror mine. This was their own choice...

... they were not innocent and unwilling victims. They were generally nice folks... just stupid and gullible... and Trump gave them cover to not have to hide their racism. I grew up with that shit all my life. It's embarrassing to have to admit that was my upbringing and that they were "my people".

I hope you and yours stay safe, Nixie.

[EastMeetsWest]

82. I don't know anyone who has even been sick from Covid

We are in our 6th wave here in the Tokyo area. I wear a mask in public, gargle regularly, and wash my hands several times a day, like most people here. Although the Omicron strain (オミクロン株 has been spreading in the Tokyo area, the number of severe cases is very low.