I remember Yvette, after I came to North Carolina, to help care for my terminally ill twin sister, asking me, “You’re not going to leave as soon as Deb dies, right?” I assured her that I would not and that I would be here for long as she needed or wanted me to be. The relief on her face was palpable.

Yvette was struggling with hip pain when I got here. She chalked it up to years of nursing and not always following the protocols for lifting and transporting patients. Toward the end of 2019, Yvette went to see an orthopedic surgeon who did an x-ray and said she needed a hip replacement.

Yvette’s plan was to have the surgery done after Deb died. But COVID restrictions were enforced within a week after Deb’s death on February 29, 2020, and that meant everything changed. Instead of having Deb’s memorial service and the church she and Yvette were members of, we had a small memorial service at home. Yvette’s hip surgery was considered an elective surgery. Elective surgeries were postponed indefinitely. Continue reading →