By Lauren Steffes

These past few months have been some of the most difficult many of us have ever experienced. From escalating racial tensions, a divisive presidential election, and, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic, modern-day living seemed to morph into a crisis of apocalyptic proportions from the moment we crossed into the year 2020.

For some of us, we have also experienced personal tragedies alongside this collective trauma. My mother had multiple heart attacks and strokes the week that the pandemic strongly hit the nation, and she passed away after 4 grueling days of our family praying and fighting for her life. The loss couldn’t have come more suddenly and unexpectedly, and the grief hit me harder than I could handle.