Pandemic: Week 9

A COVID19 Style Funeral in New York State

Annie Windholz

May 12, 2020·2 min read

5/7/20 Day 45 Sheltering

A 25 year old black man was killed two months ago in the middle of the street, and the two white men who killed him were not arrested until it gained national attention months later. Fuck racism. Every white US citizen has a responsibility to address racism in this country daily, and work toward ending it. Or else you’re complicit.

5/8/20 Day 46 Sheltering

Passed a protest out front of city hall. People were holding “flatten the curve, not the economy,” signs, complete with full human size religious crosses and Bibles.

Ben’s grandma passed away in Rochester, NY so we are heading across the country to be with his family in the hotzone of the COVID19 pandemic.

5/9/20 Day 47 Sheltering

Driving from Missouri to New York during the pandemic. Halfway there, entering Ohio a blinking roadsign announces: if you are entering Ohio from another state, you must quarantine yourself for the next 14 days. We continue to drive through Ohio and question whether we are making the right decision to travel right now. Ben’s dad specifically asked him to be there though, so we feel better about that.

5/10/20 Day 48 Sheltering

Mid may polar vortex hitting New York all week. Snow and rain and wind and constant grey sky and landscape.

5/11/20 Day 49 Sheltering

Funeral. Torrential rain and a bit of snow. Black umbrellas, and nervous laughter. No hugs, or getting closer than 6 feet together. Masks made everything hard to hear, and people’s emotions hard to read. Ben’s grandpa carried around a box of plastic gloves to shake people’s hands, and when the pastor asked if anyone had any last words at the grave site in the downpour of rain his grandpa said “I’ll shoot you if you do” (jokingly but also not).

Garbage plates afterward, and warming up inside.