Loved ones reflect on Wisconsin lives lost to COVID-19
Loved ones reflect on Wisconsin lives lost to COVID-19
In Wisconsin, the Department of Health Services says the virus has killed more than 6,500 people. Loved ones are left grieving.
MILWAUKEE - As the sun began to set in Estabrook Park, Odell Robinson held tight to a picture frame.
"It makes me smile when I look at it because she’s smiling in all of them," Robinson said.
He’s talking about his longtime wife, Gloria Robinson. The two were high school sweethearts.
"She would do anything for anybody. That’s why I call her my superwoman," Robinson said.
Odell and Gloria Robinson
Gloria Robinson was a wife, mother, grandmother and co-owner of Nino’s Southern Sides in Shorewood. In March 2020, Gloria fell ill and went to the hospital. She died in mid-April from coronavirus complications.
"To be honest, I don’t know if I’ve allowed myself to grieve," Lamont Robinson, her son, said.
Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS)
In Wisconsin, the Department of Health Services says the virus has killed more than 6,500 people. Loved ones are left grieving.
"Losing a child at any age, no matter how old that child is, is incredibly painful," said Colleen Kane.
Adam Biddle
Kane’s only son, Adam Biddle, died from COVID-19 complications in April. The 35-year-old Racine County man was recently married.
"He was the glue for all of us. He kept us together in so many ways," Kane said. "Without that anchor, several of us have felt lost at various periods of the last year."
Adam Biddle
Like many killed by the virus, Biddle has not had the funeral he deserves, due to gathering restrictions.
"We're still hoping to have that ceremony, but that too is very difficult," Kane said. "Very difficult to not say goodbye in our social traditional sense."
Gloria Robinson
Odell Robinson said goodbye to his wife during a small service. Since her death, he picked up cooking to stay close to her.
"She could cook every nationality, you name it, she could do it," said Odell Robinson. "I’ve been cooking meals. I can cook but not up to her standard"
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One year after the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, families are finding ways to honor the lives lost.
"It was a good life that he had and we have fond memories and myself and my family get together often and we tell Adam stories," Kane said.
"When she passed, life kind of slowed down for me," Lamont Robinson said. "It made me really think about what is important. What are the things I value and am I putting value in the right things."
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