In the last four years, I’ve lost my sister, my grandmother on my mother’s side, my grandfather on my father’s side, and two uncles and an aunt.

My grandfather died on my birthday this year. I was in Berlin and had the flu. I woke up in the late afternoon and it was already getting dark outside. I read the messages my family had sent telling me he had died that morning nearly 6,000 miles away. My dad was alone with him when he died.