In a time saturated w/stories of grief, this article does justice to the 5th-generation funeral home owners the Farenga brothers, working overtime & at personal risk to care for the dead, and the diverse NY families, such as the Purewals, that they serve. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/magazine/funeral-home-covid.html?smid=tw-share

I also think the article actually answers the question in its headline. Against all odds, the Farengas do maintain some dignity for the dead. By truly caring, treating all grief traditions equally and with respect for all families. The question is whether they can sustain it.

That's not a question for the Farengas. It's a political question. At some point, not only material resources to fight the virus are expended, but also the ability of folks like the Farengas to work all hours, to care in excess. A rush to reopen kills people. It also kills care.

I remember in 2016 Trump boasted in an interview that he never changed any his kids' diapers. It was a way of saying he saw care work as a debased thing. The Farengas are among many out there, every day, offering care as often the last way to preserve any kind of shared dignity.

I now see a connection between Trump's diaper comment long ago and his refusal to wear a mask. In the face of a pandemic, to borrow a quote from Eula Biss, "we owe each other our bodies." But Trump has never cared for another body, as the Farengas do all day; he has only grabbed.

Yes, we are living w/the consequences of political leadership that calls science into question when it is inconvenient--climate change, coronavirus. But it also matters about the not changing diapers, not understanding their bodies as at stake to other bodies. Not knowing care.