I resented the fact that we couldn't attend her funeral, that she was alone in his room when he died.

I kept thinking about my cousin, who also recently passed away from Covid-19. After we hung up, I felt like I couldn't breathe. The other day, I had to call a man who lost his father to the virus. Each obituary pays around $200 ($0.50 per word). It's depressing stuff, but I can't afford to turn down the money. Last month, I wrote an obituary for a New York police officer who passed away from Covid-19. Several times a week, I work past 1 a.m., nap for a few hours and wake up before 5 a.m. These days, I'm mostly sitting at a tiny desk in one of my brother's old room, where I work on assignments and apply for jobs. If that happens anytime soon, I probably won't have health insurance to cover medical fees. I'm now further along in the recovery process, but I recently learned I might need to go back for another surgery. A nurse would come every day to take my vitals and change wound dressings.

Even though it happened before I lost my job, I was still in great physical pain and could hardly sleep, sit up or walk.ĭuring my first three weeks of living at home, I had to work on my laptop while laying on my stomach. But it gets easier over time as you build relationships with assignment editors.Īside from quarantining amid the pandemic in Queens (which currently has the most confirmed Covid-19 cases of New York's five boroughs), I had a medical condition affecting my lower back that made things even more stressful. It involves a lot of researching and pitching on my end. I spent most of April figuring out how to apply for unemployment and juggling freelance jobs - mostly writing obituaries, along with some research and fact-checking projects.įinding freelance work is challenging, even for experienced writers.

Sample obituaries for mom