Choctaw Family Remembers Loved One Who Died From COVID-19 More Than 1 Year After His Death

More than 800,000 people in the United States have lost their lives due to COVID-19.

Loved ones, like Teresa Talbott from Choctaw, are learning to navigate the holidays.

"He was a very happy person, loved everyone," said Talbott.

She remembers her husband of 35 years, with his signature smile. Even though her husband Mike is gone, his smile is captured in pictures throughout Talbott's new home.

"It was about October the 29 or 28 when he tested positive for COVID," said Talbott.

A high fever and dwindling oxygen levels convinced Talbott to take Mike to the hospital on Halloween in 2020.

"He just never got to come out, never got to come home," said Talbott.

She told News 9 when she dropped him off, she thought she would be pick up her husband in just a few days.

Mike spent a month and a half in the hospital and ended up intubated before he died.

His family would still FaceTime him, with the nurses' help, twice a day.

The hospital let Talbott and their daughter, Katie Teague, see Mike just before he died on Dec. 14.

That same month, Pfizer rolled out its COVID vaccine.

"It makes me sad because I know if that vaccine or treatment would have been here, he would have been one of the first ones to have gotten it," said Talbott.

Talbott and her daughter have gotten vaccinated, and even friends and family have gotten doses because of Mike.

"The day I found out I was pregnant, which was after he passed away, a red cardinal showed up in the backyard," said Teague.

The pair still feel Mike around them, but the holidays will never be the same.

"With each holiday it comes, it gets lonely," said Talbott. "Not lonely because I have a lot of family, but lonesome to see him."

They hope people take the pandemic just as seriously as they do after losing their loved one to the COVID.