For Those We Lost: COVID Stories

Episode 51. Jennifer in Oregon Since this is the last episode of season 2 and I am putting this podcast in a hiatus (possibly permanently) I wanted to tell my mom's story. Today we will be talking about my mom, Bobbie Lee, and she passed away on August 24, 2020. My mom had Alzheimer's from a Traumatic Brain Injury and she'd been in a memory care since October 2018. She was a feisty...

Episode 50. Elena and Yvette in Texas In this episode, I will be talking with Yvette and Elena. They lost their mother, Aurora Poblano, to COVID on January 23, 2021. Their mother Aurora lived in Pasadena, Texas with Elena. Yvette reached out to me over a year ago, but they've waited to talk about their mom until they could do it together. One important thing to know is that their mom was diag...

Episode 49. Angee in Missouri In this episode, I will be talking with Angee in Missouri. Angee lost her mom, Gloria, to Covid on February 17, 2021. Angee not only feels the grief of losing her mom, but she also deeply feels the guilt of knowing that she brought the virus home to her mom. We talk a lot about grief and guilt and healing in this episode. Angee mentions the Yellow Heart Memorial and h...

Episode 48. Brian in Illinois I recorded this episode with Brian in Illinois in April 2022 and it was originally supposed to be episode 28. But Brian didn't send me any photos of his mom or him and I put this show on hold. With this podcast headed into a hiatus (more on that below), I decided to air this show and I went through Brian's YouTube channel and pulled some still images from hi...

In this episode, I will be talking with Jessica in New Jersey. Jessica lost her dad, Xavier, to Covid on January 18, 2021. When she reached out to me, Jessica told me that she had not really talked about her dad and told his story in detail like this. She said she'd put it in a box but now she was ready to share. Jessica tells her dad's story and also talks about how she is healing and t...

Episode 46. Patty in Connecticut In this episode, I will be talking with Patty in Connecticut. Patty lost her husband, Frank, to Covid on April 22, 2020. He was 52 years old when he died and their wedding anniversary was just a few days after he passed away. In this show Patty talks about her regrets and how much she struggled with not being able to be in the hospital with her husband. She also ta...

Episode 45. Christina in California In this episode, I will be talking with Christina in California. Christina lost her dad, Raul, her brother, Raul Jr and her sister, Margie, to COVID all in January 2021. Christina was a nurse at the hospital where her family was and so she was able to see her family members and check in on them at a time when most family was not allowed in the hospitals. She rec...

Episode 44. Lauren in New York In this episode, I will be talking with Lauren in New York. Lauren lost her dad, Anthony Granchelli to COVID on January 19, 2022. Lauren was on almost every call from the hospital while her dad was there and requested his medical records, which she had with her during this recording. In this episode she goes through the day-to-day of her dad's hospitalization. S...

Episode 43. Keesha in Georgia In this episode, I will be talking with Keesha in Georgia. Keesha lost her mom, Rita Delores Coleman, to COVID on January 13, 2022. Keesha weaves such a beautiful tribute to her mom in this show, talking about her family, her grief, and what a fighter her mom was. This is the longest episode I've recorded so far, but it's so worth the listen. Keesha talks ab...

Episode 42. Shelly in California In this episode, I will be talking with Shelly in California. Shelly lost her husband, Ronnie, to COVID on July 3, 2020. Shelly shares so much in this show about how she and Ronnie met and the life they were building together. Shelly and Ronnie had two dogs that were especially important to them and in this episode, if you listen you can hear one of them snoring in...

Episode 41. Casey in Kansas In this episode, I will be talking with Casey in Kansas. Casey lost her husband, David, to COVID on December 26, 2021. David left behind his wife and their six children. In this episode, she talks about her strong intuitive sense that something would happen to Dave and she talks about how she and her kids are coping. Dave had also recently lost his dad and his brother a...

Episode 40. Alysia and Robert in California In this episode, I will be talking with Alysia and her dad, Robert in California. Alysia reached out to me about losing her mom, Sarah, to COVID on November 3, 2021. Alysia is one of 10 children ranging in age from about 3 to 21.  Throughout our phone conversations she always had her dad, Robert, on the line. When I asked him if he wanted to be on the sh...

Episode 39. Naj in San Francisco In this episode, I will be talking with Naj in San Francisco. Naj lost her grandmother, Rosemary Williams, on July 29, 2020. Rosemary was one of about 13 brothers and sisters and she was the last living sibling. She and her husband moved to San Francisco from Louisiana and started their married life together. They bought a house and lived in the same community for...

Episode 38. Summer in South Carolina In this episode, I will be talking with Summer in South Carolina. This is a powerful episode about not only COVID loss, but long COVID. Summer's husband, Robert, was in the COVID ICU for 81 days and then he was released to a rehab facility and came home in October 2020. And he was home for almost 18 months. But Robert, and Summer, struggled through his lon...

Episode 37. Melanese in Maryland In this episode, I talk with Melanese in Maryland. Melanese lost her husband Charles Thomas, Jr. on February 28, 2021. He was admitted to the hospital with COVID in December 2020 and was there for about a week  and then was released and came home. Melanese talks about his health struggles afterward and how her husband tried to push through, but he struggled with lo...

In this episode, I will be talking with Mandy in Oregon. Mandy lost her dad, Brad Shroyer, on August 15, 2020. Her dad brought his tablet, his phone and chargers to the hospital with him and a wonderful nurse at the hospital helped him keep everything charged and online. Because of this Mandy and her mom were able to be on camera with her dad 24 hours a day for the entire length of his hospital st...

Episode 35. Michelle in California In this episode, I will be talking with Michelle in California. Michelle lost her husband, Thor, on September 2, 2021. Thor was very proud of his Norwegian heritage, and they both loved Marvel movies. Michelle describes him as the strongest and silliest person she knew. Michelle talks about how she and Thor met, which is such a beautiful story and she also mentio...

Episode 34. Loretta in California In this episode, I will be talking with Loretta in California. Loretta lost both of her parents to COVID within a month of each other. Her mother, Maria Cuevas, died on December 10, 2020 and her father, Cipriano Pedroza, passed away on January 8, 2021. Her parents had been divorced for many years, and so when Loretta's mom passed away, she had no reason to be...

Bonus Episode. Voices-19 Authors Talk About the Book Welcome to another bonus episode where I'll be talking with Jean, Kim and Rosie who wrote chapters in the book Voices-19: Their  Legacies Live On, Stories Collected by Brenda E. Cortez. In each of the 18 chapters of this book, the authors write about a family member they have lost to COVID-19. Jean in New Jersey lost her sister, Vivian Meit...

Episode 33. Megan in South Carolina In this episode, I will be talking with Megan in South Carolina. Megan lost her mom, Ann Trombino, to COVID on November 12, 2021. Megan is a mother with young children who will know their grandma through memories as they grow up and Megan has been so changed by her mother's death that she started a nonprofit to help children who have experienced loss and ha...

Episode 32. Kathryn in California In this episode, I will be talking with Kathryn in California. Kathryn lost her mom, Dianne Wise, on December 29, 2020 in Toronto, Canada. Kathryn talks about saying goodbye over a video screen and how important it was for her to get back to Canada to see her family and grieve with them. What touched me most in this episode is the grief Kathryn has for her mom not...

Bonus Episode. One Year anniversary of the Rami's Heart permanent memorial grand opening Welcome to another bonus episode where I'll be talking to Rima. She was on episode 6 and she is the wonderful human being who founded the Rami's Heart COVID 19 Memorial on the beach in New Jersey. When I interviewed Rima last year, she was in the process of moving the beach hearts and in this ep...

Episode 31. Christina in Arizona In this episode, I am talking with Christina in Arizona. Christina lost her mother, Catherine Rodriquez, to COVID on June 22, 2020 and she and I have a lot of similarities in our stories. Her mother had early onset Alzheimer's. My mother had Alzheimer's from a traumatic brain injury. We were both locked out of their long term care facilities and our mothe...

Episode 30. Laci in Texas In this episode, I will be talking with Laci in Texas. Laci lost her dad, Robert Weikert, on November 23, 2021. She and her sisters were able to be with him in the hospital while he was there and he had family surrounding him when he passed away. Laci talks about how even though she's grateful, that came with it's own traumas. She also talks about how she is hea...

Episode 29. Trish in Pennsylvania In this episode, I will be talking with Trish in Pennsylvania. Trish lost her dad, Jim, her papa bear, on January 4, 2021. A few weeks after he passed away, Trish was testifying before her state congress and her action keeps going. She is the Yellow Heart Memorial Pennsylvania chapter leader and she shares her dad's story as often as she can. Here are the lin...