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(cw: death)
A few weeks ago I spoke to my nextdoor neighbor for the first & last time.
I was out mowing the lawn, he was throwing a football around with his wife. We made small talk about weather, I admired their landscaping. They were maybe 45-50.
I never caught his name.
A few weeks ago I spoke to my nextdoor neighbor for the first & last time.
I was out mowing the lawn, he was throwing a football around with his wife. We made small talk about weather, I admired their landscaping. They were maybe 45-50.
I never caught his name.
This morning a fire truck stopped in front of our house. Then an ambulance pulled into their driveway. Four men in hazmat suits got out. Then an SUV pulled up and a family climbed out of it. A woman, a man, and a few kids. The woman spoke to one of the men in a hazmat suit.
She fell to the ground screaming and wailing and cursing and pleading with God. I can't stop thinking about the way her voice echoed up and down the street. Her kids ran up to console her and help her up to her feet. The man went inside.
Fifteen or twenty minutes later, a man in a hazmat suit walked out, coiling up what looked to be a ventilator/hose, put it in a black duffel bag, and loaded it into the ambulance. Then he unloaded a stretcher and wheeled it inside.
Some more time passed, and they brought my neighbor out on that stretcher. He had a transparent plastic apparatus affixed around his head and shoulders. They'd taken his shirt off to get an airtight seal. His hands were ziptied to it, to keep them from falling off to the side.
It looked like the top of some plastic sarcophagus.
I spoke with a family member who has first responder medical training, who confirmed that it's a safety measure for transport and disposal of any deceased suspected to be COVID-19 victims.
I spoke with a family member who has first responder medical training, who confirmed that it's a safety measure for transport and disposal of any deceased suspected to be COVID-19 victims.
They loaded my neighbor onto the ambulance, and the convoy left quietly. No lights, no sirens. Just... Quiet.
Now I'm sitting in the living room. Our youngest is playing peek-a-boo with a blanket, our oldest is down the hallway yelling at a fruit fly in the window. One neighbor is out front working on a classic car. Our other neighbors are shooting hoops in the driveway. Normal again.
Life is so fucking precious, and so fragile. Please, please be careful out there. Mask up. Especially if you're out in the streets fighting the good fight right now. Please, take care of yourselves, and each other. We're all we've got. Love y'all. 
Update: Neighbor is alive! In the hospital, but alive.
