Recently I attended a wedding. The bride and groom were up in the stage with lot of fun decorations, photo sessions & cake cutting. Happy faces everywhere & the closer family members enjoying the company of each other and taking turns to get pictures with the couple on the stage. Something that you cannot miss on the stage was one more thing - there was a photo of the groom's father with his passed-away date on it, this as part of paying respect to who is not alive for the important occasion of his son's marriage. I was able to recognize instantly from the "departed date" on the photo, that it was peak covid at that time. Turns out he passed away after getting infected by the Covid-19 virus at the peak of the pandemic.
For me and majority of the people in the world - Covid-19 pandemic days' was just a different experience, we spent over a year staying at home & then when it was safe, we came out of it., just as we got into it. It was just happy times. We were with my parents all year and we had long conversations about everything, 24x7 at home, and had nice time being together at all times without any distractions whatsoever. No one leaves the house. No other person can enter the house. We didn't get sick, no one in the family had infections or to suffer through hospitalization, or did we lose anything, financially. "Cautious" people who had enough, sat inside home and allowed the wave to pass.
But there are people who were not that lucky. The people who had to work to make ends meet - didn't have that option. They had to go out to face the world, and vulnerable fell by giving up their life. No one knew initially what it was and how to react. Only when people died the panic got acknowledgement, and it hit home - it just was too late.
Their life path was altered to the worst. They lost fathers, mothers, both parents, sons, daughters & loved ones because of Covid-19 infections. I know a person who lost his father who was the only bread winner in the family. The family isn't the same any more. I know a LOT changed after that. I know another family friend who lost 2 people in the same house to Covid. Kids lost their grandfather in the night and their mother in the morning. I have a friend who lost his father first and he himself was severely infected and in fact he is yet to fully recover from covid related complications like Mucormycosis or black fungus in Covid-19 patients. He had more than five post-care surgeries in the eye and in his face and has lost his smooth face appearance permanently giving him a sick face. I know someone who lost both his parents during that time to the infection.
Little things matter. For most of us, Covid-19 was a little thing that came and left. For some - it was not little, it left a real scar in their way of life. Let's put us in their shoes and see how they would look back and see the pandemic times in their perspective.
What a cruel world? You see around and notice most of people you know had no impact from the covid wave but your family took a direct hit and you are a affected victim. The Covid-19 virus took away the beloved ones by force without a proper warning. It was so sudden - they didn't know Why the virus choose to kill their loved ones but spared all the others? Things were going good before the Covid wave and as everybody, they had future plans. Then the pandemic stuck. Took away loved ones at home. After a short & a severe brutality period - things are back to how it used to be. For the affected, the damage has already been done with enormous pain & suffering with an uncertain future with who are left out. The questions remains - why us? I don't think anyone can answer that. The real victims are not the persons who died because of the virus during the pandemic, But it is those who had to pick the slack because of that.
On a good side - I went for lunch to a friend's place for Eid last month. After a good meal I remembered his sister was very serious with Covid complication during its peak and they spent a lot of money and effort to rescue her. I asked how is her sister now - He gladly told - she made the food today. It was a nice moment to know all is good now. Some people made it to the other side after a life-scaring experience.
I personally do not know what would I do going through want they went through. I would be gutted if something like that would have happened to me because of what it was a - temporarily dangerous phenomena. For them - I wish I could do something more, but just have only my stupid "sympathies". At least we can all agree the "useless" masks didn't help. And the victims are not dead, but here, struggling with the loss of their loved ones!
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