One Year Later: How FaceTime became norm for families saying goodbye to a dying loved one

Coronavirus in America, one year later. As we reflect on this painful anniversary this month, we check back in with an Eagle Rock family. Grandson David Lopez did a video that caught the attention of the media.

It was an early look at a new norm, families saying goodbye to a dying loved one by FaceTime.

Almost a year after our interview by zoom I went to meet David in-person. The photographer lives with his mother Adalid Guadalupe Lopez and he shot his video in their home.

It documented her goodbye to her mother Emparo Morales and the grief that followed. The cries of his mom were heartbreaking as she was forced to say her goodbyes on FaceTime.

Hospitals had cut off family visits due to the pandemic and fear of the spread of coronavirus.  

In the video he narrates "not getting to say goodbye to your mother in-person is the cruelest thing I've ever witnessed."

The 83-year-old Morales had been in a nursing home with dementia. She lost her life to COVID-19 on April 19, 2020, a day after David's birthday.

March 2020 will mark one year since the COVID-19 pandemic made the entire country pause. There have been 516,000 Covid deaths in the U.S. With her mother in that horrible statistic, Adalid says they talk about it a lot and that's part of the family healing.

David's film was posted on Youtube and Instagram has a message. He said then "What's even crueler, there are people who think this whole pandemic is a hoax."

David knows he documented a part of history. He calls it surreal and can't believe it's only been a year. He says for those who've lived through this "it feels like an eternity."

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