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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.

<strong> Thick plastic separates me from the taxi driver.</strong> He speaks with a strong accent, and the plastic muffles the sound so much that we can hardly understand each other.<strong> He's taking me home from the airport, where I've just returned from my mother's funeral. She died of COVID a month ago, and with everyone's vaccine schedules this was the earliest we could have a service.</strong> When the driver had politely opened the door for me and asked if my trip was for work or pleasure, I didn't even know what to say. I reminded myself that he's from a different culture and language, and it's just small talk after all. But once he was in the driver's seat, it took a lot of shouting and gesticulating through the plastic to get home. <strong> A masked funeral, COVID, losing my mom, delivering a eulogy, the awkward reunions with long-lost relatives, all of it is impossible to describe. But something about that plastic was almost as disturbing, and it was hard not to cry.</strong>

May 7, 2021

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