What the loss of my brother during COVID-19 taught me about our personal relationships with local news (Spoiler: it’s complicated)
I didn’t even hear my phone buzzing. It was 4 am and the end of another stressful week of work and family affairs heightened by the third month of the coronavirus pandemic. I was wiped out that Friday morning in May and my first Zoom meeting of the day wasn’t for several hours, so there I lay resting in a coma-like state.
Thankfully my wife is a lighter sleeper than me. So when my sister tried her phone next, Jennifer woke me and handed me the iPhone. Only seconds into consciousness, I knew something was terribly wrong.
Michael and I were separated by only 10 months. We were very close growing up, partially because it was easier for our mother to shop for clothes grabbing two of everything. We were often mistaken for twins in those early years. Eventually, we began to develop our own interests, hobbies and circles of friends.
Like so many of us, Michael struggled with identity issues for much of his life. Who he was, what he was meant to become, what does personal happiness look like, and so on. However, throughout his 44 years, he brought light and love to so many.
He excelled in school, served our country for eight years in the U.S. Army, settled…
