I’m in the shadow of the Washington monument looking out at 676,286 flags on the day this pandemic became the largest mass casualty event in American history. I didn’t realize families of those lost wrote personal messages on flags. It hurts to read. Here are some.THREAD 
676,286 is too large of a number to conceptualize in our minds. That’s why it’s surreal to see so many white flags. Each is a person lost. Each represents a family devastated. 2/6
I remember reading about the 1918 flu when I was a kid in school. It seemed so far away in history. Felt like something that could never happen in modern times. I would think crazy that tragedies like that used to happen. But now we are living through something worse. 3/6
Another way to conceptualize the magnitude of the loss is to recognize that 1 out of every 500 Americans has died from Covid. In a nation of over 330 million, that is staggering. 4/6
2,078 of these flags represent people in my congressional district who died from Covid. To say they are missed is a drastic understatement. Families are still carrying deep pain. Many never got to say real goodbyes. We never want to go to another Zoom funeral again. 5/6
If you can get to DC to see this powerful installation, please do. The flags will be displayed until Oct 3. For those who can’t make it, I hope my photos give you a sense of its power. Think about those lost. Hold their memory close. Let prevent more Americans from dying.END
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