Uncle Mike couldn't speak in his final days. As he lay in a hospital bed losing the battle to COVID-19, he signaled to his sister. His hand touched his heart and signaled up to the sky. His sister asked him: "Do you want to see the Lord?" All he could do was nod his head. I never really knew my Uncle Mike. But his loss pierced our family; a family that has lived in the same 10-mile radius in the foothills of Appalachia for three generations. He dreamt of improving his life and providing for the family around him.
Despite having cancer, Mike decided to not get vaccinated. Not long after, he contracted the virus, sending him to the hospital for four weeks. Although Mike's death seems a mere drop in the now more than 600,000 COVID-19 deaths across the country, his life surpasses any statistic. "God gained another angel," his sister Becky, my mom, said. "In the blink of an eye, I told Mike to go on to heaven." These are the pieces that he had left behind. This is what remains of my Uncle Mike.
This project recieved gold in College Photographer of the Year in the COVID Experience category.
