This memento is my former partner’s bandana. He passed away at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. He committed suicide. He was 29. We were quarantining in the same town and I was afraid to visit him because I didn’t want to expose him/be exposed to covid. I’m submitting this memento to highlight the… Continue reading Matt’s Bandana
My husband and I had two little hearts grow during the height of the pandemic in 2021. The first baby we lost naturally by way of a miscarriage- while the second was an ectopic pregnancy, meaning the embryo had to be surgically removed along with the uterine tube it accidentally started to grow into. My… Continue reading Two hearts became two angels
Mom was diagnosed Jan 14, 2022 in the ED with MI, stroke, plural effusion and COVID+. Died Jan 20. I’m immunocompromised and had to watch the funeral at home, alone.
When health sciences students were allowed to return to using our building in May 2020, I was one of the few physically staffing the building. I make funny buttons for students every semester, usually bad puns about medicine, and decided to try and design something that might be funny but didn’t seem flippant about the… Continue reading Laugh to keep from crying
I’ve worked in healthcare for almost 20 years. Over the last two years I felt my empathy slipping away. It was scary. It was sad. I’m donating the rainbow off my crocs as my physical memento to symbolize my temporary loss of empathy and to symbolize the hope that comes with a rainbow. I look… Continue reading A temporary loss of empathy
February 29, 2020. Huntsman Cancer Hospital. 48 hours and counting down. Four months have passed since the recurrence put her in the hospital. Unaccountable fatigue and a persistent urinary tract infection were the first symptoms. Her lab results returned with creatinine flagged with the letter H, worse was to follow. And like that, a recovery… Continue reading Reflecting
Our family is contributing a tiny FISH and a tiny SEA TURTLE as our mementos. We love the Utah desert, but we NEED the ocean. We usually visit the ocean once or twice a year. Once COVID hit, we did not feel comfortable traveling, so no ocean trips. It felt sad and strange.
A moment of beauty and calm during a tumultuous spring.
Like so many others, the pandemic renewed my old hobbies while introducing me to new hobbies. For a while, it seemed like being outside was the only safe thing to do, so during that first pandemic summer my partner and I bought a new-to-us canoe from a guy in Ogden. Weekend after weekend, we took… Continue reading Canoe Life
