To the editor:

Almost 600,000 Americans have lost their lives to COVID-19. That’s almost too many to absorb: Almost 600,000 people who were living normal lives a year ago and are no longer with us. We in Alexandria have lost 137 of our own to this terrible virus. While a much smaller number, it still hits home. This is us, our fellow Alexandrians, people we knew, loved, worked with, played with, saw every day as we got our morning coffee.

They are gone but not forgotten. A citizen-led group has created a temporary memorial to remember and honor our own. Titled “Alexandria Remembrance. With love, we remember our friends and neighbors lost to COVID-19,” it is a display of 137 white flags in Rivergate Park at the base of Madison Street on the waterfront in Old Town North. There is one flag for each victim of the virus. Flags will be added and the signage updated if additional residents succumb to the disease.

Thanks to the city, North Old Town Independent Citizens Organization and the Old Town North Community Partnership for their support.

Currently the flags do not include the names of specific individuals lost, but family members who wish to write their loved one’s name or a message on a flag can contact Louise Kenny at Notice. [email protected]

The Alexandria Remembrance will remain in Rivergate Park until June 21.

We invite fellow Alexandrians to come to visit the site and remember our own who have been lost to COVID-19.

-Louise Kenny, Mace Carpenter, Margaret Townsend, Alexandria