Help with Osiris' funeral arrangements

Osiris Forbes was a beloved mother, aunt, sister, and grandmother who left us way too soon on January 15, 2021. A certified national artisan of Panama, she continued to teach her art students throughout the pandemic while taking standard precautions.

After receiving a thoughtful honoring ceremony for her brilliant teaching contributions on Panamanian Mother's Day from her students, she returned to her home in Vista Alegre, Arraijan in Panama. Shortly thereafter, she started to experience various symptoms of illness.

She had contracted Covid-19.
By Christmas she had developed a fever and shortly thereafter, was rushed to the hospital where she was cared for until she lost the battle to Covid-19.  The disease caused numerous complications, which triggered altered blood sugar levels and caused her lungs to collapse over time, despite receiving the best care that could be had.

I, her niece, can't explain the profound sadness I feel because she wasn't just an aunt to me. She was my second mother figure and there were times where I would turn to her even more than I would my own mother. She was woman of faith, of convictions, and of immense empathy and kindness. She was a voice of reason and of compassion.

She was the heart and center of our family.

I can't express enough how awful it is that because of the current circumstances, my father and I can't travel to attend any available services for her. My father, her older brother, is at high-risk, because he is diabetic and taking heart medication, and I am currently attending university. And where we live in South Florida, we consistently get new daily infection cases by the thousands.

Meanwhile in Panama, where our entire family is located, the pandemic situation is even more dire. Our family, despite wanting to us to join them in their grief, has warned us not go as it is too risky and so we are left torn and in limbo. But they have to continue to arrange her funeral under heavy Covid-19 restrictions.

And that's why I'm making this post and asking for help. My family urgently needs help raising money for her funeral arrangements, which must be expedited due to the pandemic. We are in contact with the cemetery where they plan to lay her to rest called Colinas de la Paz.

Luckily, we do at least have a plot that was purchased over 6 years ago where my grandmother was buried. But times are tough now. My aunt's burial arrangements add up to approximately $1,900, which would cover her stay at the morgue, her preparation, her cremation, maintenance, and burial. They will give her a brief service, but they can't have a regular funeral mass for her due to the pandemic restrictions (an extremely disappointing reality due to the amount of peoples' lives she touched who wish to pay her tribute). However, everything can be paid off gradually.


With the pandemic, money is extremely tight and the economic situation is even more bleak in Panama. All of my aunt's children are struggling economically and emotionally. My father lost his job only a few days before my aunt's passing and we have a struggle of our own, but we desperately wish to help my family in any way possible. Reaching our monetary goal would help ease the burden on my family's shoulders during an already terrible time.

So, I humbly ask you, reader, to please donate whatever you can to help us bury our beloved Osiris and ease a bit of the weight that has fallen on my family's shoulders. Any amount helps. Thank you and many blessings to you.