Very sad, yet shows how resilient we are in these very difficult times.

For now, this is our new normal.

My condolences.

Funeral homes and churches will be backed up with booking memorial services once we get the all clear to be out. Our newspaper has pages of obits almost every day and I’d guess 99% say a service will be held later.

Sorry for your loss, especially in these difficult times. There are special challenges for those whose religion calls for certain rituals and traditions. I see obituaries that say a memorial service will be held at a later date, but not everyone has that choice.

My girlfriends and I have been having Zoom get togethers and it has worked well. I suppose if the family of the deceased stays online, others can”drop in” to express condolences. Might be hard to bring food, though! Hope it goes well.

We are indeed resilient but I can’t help but feel even more sad for the people who loved him. Not being able to have the comfort that being with family can provide must be so awful.

Recently, I lost a sister. It was early February and prior to the shut downs. Married for 38 years, she and my BIL had no children and outside of my older sister, they were estranged from the family. In the beginning, my older sister was the only source of comfort my BIL had. I can’t imagine how he would have managed if it had happened a month later.

So sorry for your loss. This is certainly one aspect of life that makes things a lot harder.

It is a very difficult, sad reality for many people today. A friend of hubby's just passed away yesterday, from a long decline dealing with cancer, and we were discussing how his family & many other friends would have to handle it now.

And I was just listening to a report about how many funeral homes are seeing a massive increase, and one funeral home director saying he was becoming emotionally overwhelmed by how many cases he was dealing with now.

I am very sorry for your loss and that people cannot attend in person. I think we will have to have virtual or delayed memorials for quite awhile, unfortunately.

So sorry for your loss. All the more sad as it is an indication of our new normal.

So sorry, trying times.

On a recent newscast I heard a funeral director refer to his job being the “last responder”. Makes sense.

We “attended” an online streamed funeral a few weeks ago. It was before the Stay at Home order, but when people were thinking twice about being in a crowd. The church was still crowded but we chose not to attend and were able to hear and see the people present the eulogies, lead the prayers and play the music.

Different, but I’m glad it was offered.

I am sorry you and your cousin are going through this.

The mom of my friends DIL died during the covid19 (but not of it) and the hardest thing for her is the lack of hugs and the presence of her father who is alone, and that of her siblings. It's the being alone that is so hard.

I thought I would update. Obviously none of us had any idea of what to expect , but I was actually thankful that at least we had that. The immediate family was waiting in separate cars at the cemetery and apparently only 3 people were permitted at the graveside. They said they each had to wear masks.. For them, it worked to be the wife, and the 2 grown (married and with children) children.

The service was conducted at the Rabbi's home, and when the service concluded, the burial proceeded privately. I think the Rabbi spoke privately to the family as well but we were all requested to sign out. Honestly, it was a good solution to a bizarre set of circumstances. There were over 50 sign ons, and several had more than one person on screen.

Later in the evening, they had a virtual shiva again via zoom, and that was also a good solution. Shiva is normally full of all kinds of conversation and remembrances, and this was similar, though a little more stilted because when anyone spoke, it was naturally to the whole group. I was thankful and they seemed to feel the same, that this provided an opportunity to show support and provide a chance to reach out and reminisce.

As the family said, it's not how they would have wanted to say good bye, but ...