Letters to the Editor: Readers touched by a Times reporter’s story on her grandmother’s death

To the editor: Times reporter Brittny Mejia’s story about her grandmother’s death this month after COVID-19 swept through her family brought tears to my eyes.

We all know how certain communities have been hit hard by COVID, including my African American community. But her story brings it home for the L.A. Times family and readers. We have more names, more faces and more life stories. I was born at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, where Mejia’s grandmother died, so the story seemed to touch me just a little more deeply.

I can only wish her family the best as we continue to struggle to act upon the guidance of what it takes to emerge from the pandemic that has caused so many life stories to fade prematurely.

Jim Lites, Sacramento

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To the editor: The story of Mejia’s family is very sad — it’s much more than a statistic. Yet, I kept perseverating about the refusal of some family members to get vaccinated.

The beloved abuela died in the hospital … unvaccinated.

My New Year’s resolution is to be less judgmental of the unvaccinated, though their resistance through mostly ignorance affects my own vulnerability as an old woman.

Gloria Cowan, Culver City

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To the editor: The issue of The Times containing Mejia’s story was terrific. Multiple stories were worth writing a letter about.

At first I was annoyed by the amount of space allotted to this family’s story. But hopefully it will be passed around, and if even one person is moved to receive the vaccine, the space will not have been wasted.

Lisa Edmondson, Los Angeles