When I was a first year medical resident, I became a mother.
Right before I delivered, I was the star intern.
But when I came back 4 weeks after giving birth, the Attendings were asking:
"What happened to Jia?"
โI killed my mommy.โ Said by a 9 yo girl during her 1st assessment. Mom died of COVID two wks after daughter tested (+). Intense guilt plus the invisibility of COVID deaths make childrenโs grief even more excruciating. This is an untold aspect of nearly 1 million pandemic deaths.
An under-discussed effect of COVID is how we kind of lost casual friends. The incidental buddies you ran into at a BBQ, holiday party or softball game- just rapture-like disappeared. Now everyone you talk to is either coworker or 1 of the 5 most important people you've ever known