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Some people are feeling intense feelings right now as a result of the pandemic. Is anything making you especially sad, angry, or hopeful right now? If so, what's on your mind?

My mother passed away in 2019, following a brief and brutal battle with pancreatic cancer. She is never NOT on my mind, but she especially has been on my mind this past week, and I have notice myself feeling sadder and missing her more than usual. I think it is because in my state, people who are 75+ are recently eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and if my mother were still alive, she would have just turned 75 a few weeks ago. I am still in touch with her closest friend, and I recently helped her navigate the online system to set up a vaccine appointment for next week. This is something that I absolutely, positively, without a doubt in my mind would have done for my mother too. I would have driven my mother entirely across the state if it meant that she could get a vaccine sooner. In some ways, I am glad that my mother was spared living through the COVID-19 pandemic. As weird as it sounds, I am grateful that if she had to get sick and die from pancreatic cancer, that it happened in the spring of 2019 instead of the spring of 2020 (even if it would have meant having more time with her). But, I miss her so much -- and I miss the triumph of helping her get her COVID-19 vaccine. How weird is that?