So many of the ways we traditionally grieve a loved one, or bear witness to their death, aren't possible during a global pandemic. Courtney Lowery Cowgill lost her mother to cancer just as the COVID-19 hit the U.S. Her father died eight months later, also of cancer. She and her brother were grateful that they were, unlike many others, able to be with both of their parents in their last days. Like for many, however, their deep personal losses blend into a backdrop of tremendous global loss.
As she writes, grieving right now can feel lonely and incomplete. But, it can also reveal the power of what we do have left — sound, language, music, prayer — to connect us and to help us through. You can read more about her remarkable parents, Julie Remington and Clyde Lowery, in their obituaries here and here.
Courtney Lowery Cowgill teaches writing and reporting at the University of Montana School of Journalism. She writes and works from her farm in North Central Montana, where she lives with her husband and two children.