LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — "This is little granny and this is papa," Rebecca White of Shavertown said showing her locket.
She keeps the memory of her grandparents near to her heart.
The two of them passed away from COVID-19 over the summer. She and her twin sister were especially close to their grandmother and grandfather.
"They raised us pretty much, so we were their twins, so it's been rough," White said.
White, her one-month-old son, and much of her family ended up catching the virus after going to her grandmother's funeral.
"We all thought we were crying too much and our throat hurt. Everybody's throat hurt. We had headaches," White said.
Likewise, Maria Godfrey of Forty Fort tested positive. She said it took her 3 whole months before she started feeling better and she still has lingering symptoms.
"Lost my taste and smell. I still don't really have strong taste or smell," Godfrey said.
It was also an incredibly long year for Alicia Chorba. She lost her husband Jim to the virus in May. He was just 49-years-old and left behind two children.
"It's tough at times," Chorba said. "Mostly more at night when I'm all alone in my room, that's when I get upset and everything."
Even though it has been one year without Jim, Chorba said he still makes his presence known.
"The other day we were eating chips and I got a heart-shaped chip. Then the next day I got another one! I knew they were signs from him telling me everything is going to be okay," Chorba said.
A permanent reminder of Jim will always be with her and her family. They got tattoos in his honor. A mark to remember a year and a man they could never forget.