The Friend COVID-19 Took From Me
Installments of The Friendship Files typically feature a conversation between The Atlantic’s Julie Beck and two or more friends, exploring the history and significance of their relationship. But this week she speaks with just one person whose friend passed away from COVID-19 earlier this year.
In this interview, Mary-Ann Ortiz-Luis shares the history of her friendship with Baby Herrera, whom she’d known since they were girls growing up together in the Philippines. She discusses what made Baby special, how they stayed close even when Mary-Ann moved overseas, her memories and regrets from Baby’s final days, and how the void left by the loss of her friend will last long after the pandemic is over.
The Friends:
Mary-Ann Ortiz-Luis, 62, who oversees a food-packaging business and lives in Hillsborough, California.
Maria Lourdes “Baby” Goyena Herrera, the vice president of an industrial park, who lived in Manila, the Philippines, and died of complications from COVID-19 on March 31, 2020, at the age of 61.
Julie Beck: Who was Baby Herrera?
She was born several months after
