More than 10,000 Mississippians have died from the coronavirus, and religious leaders from across the state are remembering their lives and the families that are mourning their loved ones. They are gathered outside of the Governor’s Mansion in Jackson, and have placed 1,000 flags with each representing at least 10 Mississippians who have died.
Hough Hollowell with Open Door Mennonite Church was one of several speakers at the event to encourage Mississippians in their time of loss.
“But I’m also here as a boy who misses his daddy," says Hollowell. "My father was the director of emergency management for Marshall County Mississippi last year, and in October of last year on a Thursday he was delivering PPE to first responders, on Saturday he was diagnosed with COVID-19, and on Tuesday he was dead. It’s not a solitary story.”
Verta Maxidore of Jackson was also in attendance to remember some of the family she lost throughout the pandemic in Cuba. She says this day has additional significance to her, as the anniversary of her mother’s death several years ago, as well as being a cultural day of remembrance for those who have died.
Maxidore says “We call it in spanish Dia de los Fieles Difuntos. It’s a day where everybody remembers the family members, friends who have passed. In the end everyone needs to remember that we are in this earth to do something good for other people.”
Religious leaders say Mississippi is a state with many people of faith, and it is important to take a moment to pray or have a moment of silence to reflect on the lives of those who have died from COVID-19.
