For children who lost a parent, the pandemic pain will never end

Dr. Sandra McGowan-Watts (L) and her daughter Justise McGowan, 13, (R) whose father died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in May 2020, take the family dog for a walk around the neighbourhood in Matteson, Illinois, U.S. March 14, 2022. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare

CONVERSE, Texas (Reuters) - Aidan Garza often talks about his dad in the present tense, as if David Garza were still right across the living room, sitting in his favorite chair, calling the 12-year-old over to watch a Star Wars series.

As if he had never collapsed while out running errands on Dec. 30, 2020, in Converse, Texas. As if he had never died of COVID, one of the now 1 million Americans to succumb to the pandemic.