Oh, sigh. Life feels heavy at the moment. COVID is hitting Ivan’s close friends & family circle hard in Mexico right now. I won’t go into many details, as it’s not really my story to tell. But he has lost several people close to him in a short time span and it is heart breaking. (His parents and siblings are all healthy, thankfully.)
Being far away makes it that much harder. I see him on edge every time his phone buzzes….and the look on his face when it’s bad news is gut wrenching.
We were in Mexico right before the pandemic really hit, and I remember looking around at the (large) close knit families, the smaller homes, how tightly woven the neighborhoods and communities are, at a culture that thrives on connection and gatherings and parties, plus a health system and infrastructure that are very lacking… and fearing the worst for what was coming. I said to Ivan, “I think it could get very, very bad here.” (It is bad everywhere, of course.)
This is a graphic from John Hopkins University, updated on 1/19/21. It shows the observed case- mortality ratio, or the death rate PER 100 CONFIRMED CASES. (This is different than other charts that show overall mortality rate per total population. Mexico is lower on those charts since Mexico is a relatively large country/ population.)
But this shows that if you get COVID in Mexico, your odds of dying are much higher than in other places. 8.6/100.
This all leaves me just praying and praying for this to go away, and for the health of everyone we know in Mexico. It is also a sobering reminder of how fleeting life is. We know this, of course, but there’s nothing like the death of loved ones to slap us in the face with what really matters in life. Perspective.
“On the off chance that you won’t live forever, maybe you should try being happy now.”
Love someone today!
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for technology that allows people to connect when they can’t be there in person.
GRATEFUL KAE 
I’m sorry for Ivan’s loss, and it’s heartbreaking to be grieving from afar. I really appreciate your quote for today–it’s a great reminder.
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sorry to hear the loss. developing countries are going to be hit hard because of bad health infrastructure and poor implementation capacity of government. WE need to be happy and grateful even more at this time.
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Ugh. I am so sorry to hear that Ivan has lost loved ones to Covid. That mortality graph is heartbreaking. I’m glad his parents and siblings are healthy and hope they remain healthy. But it’s so hard to lose people to this awful virus!!
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