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Ribbon memorial for Florida COVID-19 victims
Every day the latest pandemic numbers are released. Most people look at them as just numbers, but each death represents a life lost and a family that has forever been changed. Cathy Tobias has set out to change this. She created the COVID Ribbon Memorial of Florida. She knows what it’s like to feel the sudden loss of a loved one.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Every day the latest pandemic numbers are released. Most people look at them as just that-numbers, but each death represents a life lost and a family that has forever been changed. Many of these families have not been able to honor their lost loved ones due to the COVID-19 restrictions.
Cathy Tobias set out to change that by creating the COVID Ribbon Memorial of Florida. She knows what it’s like to feel the sudden loss of a loved one.
"I’ve experienced a loss," she said. "I lost my first baby. I know the pain. So, when I see it in these kinds of numbers. I just know these people, their family and friends are just really grieving."
The COVID Ribbon Memorial of Florida has more than 30,000 ribbons on it. Each ribbon represents one person who has died from COVID-19. Tobias has been adding to this memorial since November and has put it on display at the Morean Center for Clay in St. Petersburg.
"I’m happy that we have been able to provide families a way that they can grieve properly. A way that they can remember, to grieve, and a way to heal also," Tobias shared.
Kathy Linda lost her mother to COVID and says it was a very difficult time, not just because her mother was gone, but because of everything else going on around her at the time.
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"Our grief was big, but there was so much grief in the whole world, in the whole community, we couldn’t even talk about it," Linda explained.
This memorial gives Linda a way to celebrate her mother and help people realize that COVID-19 statistics aren’t just numbers, but they are lives.
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"Our families can feel some sense of celebration and love and joy with the fact that we are saying yes, they were here. Yes, we loved them, and yes, they are still a part of us. This memorial gives us that chance," Linda said.
The memorial will be displayed at the Morean Center for Clay through March. The community can stop by anytime to add a name to the memorial.