One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Texans have now been infected. Hospitalizations surged past last summer’s record highs this winter. Tens of thousands have died. Vaccines brought new hope, then mounting frustration with the disorganized rollout. Throughit all, ordinary Texans across the state have tried to keep themselves healthy, their loved ones safe, their families together. They’ve tried to survive. The pandemic has changed all of us in ways small, big, irreparable, and intertwined.
Last summer, we talked to nine Texans about their experiences with COVID-19. In this issue, we check back in with those folks—and hear from a few new ones—who have graciously shared their stories.
JAMES T. CAMPBELL
HOUSTON, HARRIS COUNTY
COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
AGE: 65
JAMES T. CAMPBELL LOST HIS FATHER, JAMES Cleophas Campbell, to COVID-19 last March, soon after the pandemic arrived in Texas, and just two weeks after the state’s first reported death. But his close-knit family got little time to mourn its 88-year-old patriarch before the coronavirus struck again. “First we lost my dad, then it took his brothers,” James T. says. His dad’s older brother, Johnny, died of COVID-19 in April. In December, the youngest brother, Percy, passed away from cancer. A month later, another family member died from COVID-19.
“I never knew 2020 would be the year of virtual funerals,” James T. says with a sigh. “I haven’t had a chance to mourn my dad, because I’ve been mourning other relatives.”
A former newspaper reporter, he now works for an insurance company. His wife, Lakshmi, works as a hospice physician. Because of her work, the couple recently qualified to get the Pfizer vaccine.
But James T. still worries about his widowed mother. He and his sisters keep a close watch over Rosa Campbell, a retired nurse who turned 87 in January—a birthday her loved ones dared only celebrate over Zoom. Rosa is in the top high-risk groups. So far she has hesitated to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
James T. can’t fathom why some Texans refuse to wear masks and take other precautions, even as hundreds of thousands of people have died and cases again surged this winter. Back when his dad died, only a few experts knew the virus could be asymptomatic and was easily airborne. But, he says, there’s no excuse now not to stay home, avoid gatherings, and take all necessary preventive measures.
“I NEVER KNEW 2020 WOULD BE THE YEAR OF VIRTUAL FUNERALS.”
“It’s been made way too political,” he says. “The people who haven’t lost anybody don’t really get it. And maybe there are even people who have lost somebody and just pretend this is the flu. But if you ask the majority of the people who lost parents, uncles, they’ll say, ‘Protect yourself and the public as well.’”
One day soon, he believes, vaccines will be easily accessible nationwide, herd immunity will take hold, and the virus will loosen
