When my mother said she hesitated before answering her phone at 7 O’clock this morning, I knew why. For some reason, at least in my family, bad news calls come in as soon as you wake up; that was the case today too. My mom’s friend, Carol, was sobbing on the other line. Through her tears she told my mom her daughter was gone. She was diagnosed with the Coronavirus about a week prior and her heart gave out.

I could feel my mother’s heart aching because she couldn’t physically be there for her friend. She’s on dialysis, still seeing an oncologist and can’t even travel to the Bronx to be with her. But, she listened to her friend and offered words of comfort, even though she told me that she can’t imagine the pain of losing a child.

The call prompted my mother to reach out to her children to see how we were doing, to tell us she loved us so nothing is left unsaid.

I put down the phone and I clicked o social media. In my feed was a video of Deborah Cox and Tamia singing, “Count On Me.” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=diPxXw6KPEM

I thought about how my mom, with one phone called, reassured me that her friends and her loved ones can count of her no matter what the obstacle.

#friendship #cancer #isolation #covid19 #coronavirus #nyc #invisibleillness #chronicillness #chronicpain #grief #autoimmunedisease #spoonie