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babylonsister

(170,960 posts)
Mon May 25, 2020, 07:29 AM May 2020

"Each of those names was allowed half a sentence to describe them...."



Jacqueline Kamel
13 hrs


When I saw an image of this front page on the internet, I thought it was from 100 years ago.
And then I got my copy.

Every year on the date, the 3,000 victims of September 11th are read aloud at the World Trade Center.
It takes 3 hours. If we were to read the names of each person who has died of Covid-19 so far, it would take over 4 days, without stopping. It would cover each Sunday issue for over the next two years.

Today I read 1% of those names.
Each of those names was allowed half a sentence to describe them.
Half a sentence for a lifetime on the front page of The New York Times.

I picked out some of my favorites:

-“We called him the grand Poobah”

-her backyard birds ate right from her hand

-could fix almost anything

-first black woman to graduate Harvard Law school

-quick with his fists in the ring

-her will was indomitable

-he could spit a watermelon seed halfway across a double lot

-agent who turned on the CIA

-her favorite quote was ‘I am as good as you are, and as bad as I am’

-cancer survivor who lived as a deacon

-nothing delighted him more than picking up the bill

-saved 56 Jewish families from the Gestapo

-could be a real jokester

-thought it was important to know a person’s life story

-maestro of a steel-pan band

-saw friends at their worst and made them their best

-engineer behind the first 200mph stock car

-discovered his true calling when he started driving a school bus

-made the best Baklava ever

-emergency room doctor who died in his husband’s arms

-leader in integrating schools

-architect behind Boston’s City Hall

-shared his produce with food banks and neighbors

-family believed she would have lived the traditional Navajo lifespan of 102 years.

-loved his wife and said ‘yes dear’ a lot

-mother to a generation of AIDS patients

-worked long hard hours and still made time for everyone

-walked across the Golden Gate Bridge on opening day

-liked his bacon and hash browns crispy

-more adept than many knew

-would stay awake the whole night shift because she didn’t want anyone to die alone

-freed from life in prison

-her last words were ‘thank you’

.

Seven small towns I thought no one else had heard of.
Six women who reminded me of my mother.
Five people my age.
Four holocaust survivors.
Three 9/11 responders.
Two couples who died together.
One person I’ve met.
And a 5 year old girl.

They didn't get a funeral.
They didn't get to say goodbye.

I've been in my apartment for 71 days. I've cried four times.
Three of those times, was while I read this.

Have fun at your barbecue.



https://www.facebook.com/jackiekamel?__tn__=C-y.g&eid=ARAZOTzyQiSqWAyXXcykQM0JH33Ila-9CsXj7zFSf_Cun8WWV6P8bv-NUoccJ6Ua10l7aXbcTYvz0PlK&hc_ref=ARTm1mLNAZNgthvspt97e4pn5JoJFPecaMyBpD5nUsV5FXYgruKYmJvgDxoR8u9WL-c&fref=nf&__xts__[0]=68.ARAKr0LZU5Tq3eQu_vvGlIZsZHWNWhoYUh7yLAfGYfJs2jOmWDzRxo6CNk3xp5LTyyLSuuM_ba-2gz0zfnZd3oKKCW0PSpTzpPvlGUeVcvQuaIuVBIujHkBJMNBkEZ1XSxC3RfWI14RTiRhOHljoVgWyM1aafI2kzAT3HoGAGs0Eq1DOEKYM5cYmWt6g-TiC78vApWOoQnGW0Fv0nd92HyfOyc6KiGAHO09th4OCPFBH
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"Each of those names was allowed half a sentence to describe them...." (Original Post) babylonsister May 2020 OP
Eyes raining right along with you...nt N_E_1 for Tennis May 2020 #1
Powerful and heartbreaking, I also cried nt trocar May 2020 #2
I agree, had to wipe my eyes also, very moving article KS Toronado May 2020 #5
💔 Meowmee May 2020 #3
Every one of them Scarsdale May 2020 #4
You could have stopped at "One who reads." kag May 2020 #22
So sad . I'm sure kacekwl May 2020 #6
This is so beautiful, a wonderful poem of remembrance, a portrait of who we are RVN VET71 May 2020 #7
Thank you. Very moving post KSNY May 2020 #8
Those short descriptions make me wish I had known some of them. Danascot May 2020 #9
Thank you, it certainly makes it real. So very sad. Joinfortmill May 2020 #10
Anyone who "celebrates" Memorial Day weekend -especially this one - is clueless. marble falls May 2020 #11
Yes same with July 4 47of74 May 2020 #12
I'm with you. This is no time for 'bread and circuses'. marble falls May 2020 #13
Thank you for making some of those names personal to DUers! pazzyanne May 2020 #14
Powerful, direct and touching. panader0 May 2020 #15
Powerful, powerful, powerful. My eyes filled as I read this, especially the last part. Fla Dem May 2020 #16
Time enough between each hole of golf for Dotard to read one or two of those names. keithbvadu2 May 2020 #17
💔 🙏🏾 BlancheSplanchnik May 2020 #18
Really brings the tragedy home. Thanks for sharing. Karadeniz May 2020 #19
Teary eyed here too. Thanks so much for this genuinely meaningful post, babylonsister. JudyM May 2020 #20
as they say, "only the good die young" which means that good people demigoddess May 2020 #21

Scarsdale

(9,426 posts)
4. Every one of them
Mon May 25, 2020, 08:28 AM
May 2020

sadly lost. So much to give, and they gave. Honorable people, quietly living the best lives they could for themselves and their loved ones. So tragic to lose these wonderful people. If only we had a REAL president in the WH. One who reads daily briefings as part of the job, instead of golfing and watching Fox gnews. I put the blame squarely on HIM, the orange anus. The enabling gop is second to blame.

kacekwl

(6,993 posts)
6. So sad . I'm sure
Mon May 25, 2020, 08:43 AM
May 2020

our war time president will be visiting many of the victims of his war on this Memorial day.

 

47of74

(18,470 posts)
12. Yes same with July 4
Mon May 25, 2020, 09:25 AM
May 2020

I have no intention of celebrating it because it celebrates a government that turned its back on the people. In fact I might see if I can work that day and see if I can use the holiday hours at some other point.

pazzyanne

(6,518 posts)
14. Thank you for making some of those names personal to DUers!
Mon May 25, 2020, 09:35 AM
May 2020

None of our tragedies should become irrelevant, which we unfortunately do. We all need to be more mindful!

Fla Dem

(23,340 posts)
16. Powerful, powerful, powerful. My eyes filled as I read this, especially the last part.
Mon May 25, 2020, 10:13 AM
May 2020

Seven small towns I thought no one else had heard of.
Six women who reminded me of my mother.
Five people my age.
Four holocaust survivors.
Three 9/11 responders.
Two couples who died together.
One person I’ve met.
And a 5 year old girl.

They didn't get a funeral.
They didn't get to say goodbye.



I've added They didn't get to hear, "I love you" one last time.

keithbvadu2

(36,360 posts)
17. Time enough between each hole of golf for Dotard to read one or two of those names.
Mon May 25, 2020, 10:24 AM
May 2020

Time enough between each hole of golf for Dotard to read one or two of those names.

demigoddess

(6,640 posts)
21. as they say, "only the good die young" which means that good people
Tue May 26, 2020, 12:38 AM
May 2020

will be missed and mourned no matter what age they die. These people will obviously be missed. By the whole world.

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