Speaking of News personal column from the May 27, 2021 Shopper News, by Executive Editor, Shelly Sulser

Memorial Day this year has more meaning to the loved ones of 271 Calhoun County residents who lost their lives to the pandemic virus that causes COVID-19 disease.

That’s not just a number.

That’s people.

With families, friends, neighbors and co-workers.

They were people who lived here, who made cereal, sold insurance, made music, etc. when they weren’t at home, taking out the trash, hunting with their kids, or fixing that squeaky door knob for the umpteenth time.

Like the memories of the lost military service personnel whom we typically elevate on Memorial Day, those 271 people would have preferred to be here to enjoy the long holiday away from work making memories with and for their spouses, siblings, children, grandchildren, greatgrandchildren...

I couldn’t let this holiday pass without acknowleding those we’ve lost to this historic and ongoing pandemic that finally, according to local health officials, is starting to retreat as vaccinations ramp up.

We should all pause and honor their memory, those folks who somehow came into contact with SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that has felled nearly 600,000 Americans and more than three million individuals around the globe since emerging in late 2019 and early 2020.

One 56-year-old man who has been at his wife, Mary’s, side for 40 years, since they met in high school at the tender age of 16, is no longer around to mow the lawn, to buy his grandchildren pajamas every time he goes to Sam’s Club, to keep his son, Tyler, company at their AllState Insurance office in downtown Battle Creek, nor to mentor and encourage young athletes like he did for so many years at Battle Creek Central.

Matt Peterson, for all he knew, was healthy when a series of events – which one Mary is not sure – occurred that could have connected him with the deadly virus.

When Matt fell ill, it was after having some teeth pulled on a Thursday, said Mary.

“By Saturday, he was still in pain,” she said.

They decided, however, to go ahead and attend an outdoor social event and celebration, but for some reason, she said, they took off their masks.

“It happened to be a superspreader,” said Mary referring to the number of people who ended up ill afterward. “There were about a hundred people and for some reason, we didn’t wear a mask. We had been so adamant about wearing our masks, I don’t understand why we took them off.”

A person at the event thought she had COVID but had not received a test result in time to decide whether to go through with attendance, according to Mary.

As it turns out, not only did the event hosts and their son contract the disease, so did 10 other guests.

The next week, said Mary, Matt felt sick and they thought he was contracting a sinus infection.

By the following Thursday, Tyler called Mary and urged her to take Matt from the office to urgent care.

“They never tested him for COVID, nor did they check his lungs,” said Mary. “Little did we know at the time, he already had the silent pneumonia and COVID.”

By Saturday, Mary and Matt did not understand why he was still so sick.

He spiked a fever and Mary realized what was going on.

“I looked at him and said, ‘You have COVID,’” she recalled.

The whole family spent the rest of that day, Oct. 27, 2020, trying to find a COVID-19 test for Matt but struck out everywhere.

“So, the next morning, I couldn’t get through to urgent care and by the time I did, they were already full,” she said. “I was crying because he was in bad shape.”

Urgent care advised her to take him directly to the emergency department.

“I dropped him off at E/R, went to move my car, came back in and they had already wheeled him out and I never even got to give him a hug and a kiss goodbye,” she said. “That was it and I’m still sitting in my car in the parking lot and he was up in a room, with COVID, diagnosed with double pneumonia.”

After he was admitted, Mary said she and all of her children began feeling ill and achy.

“So, myself, and my three boys, we all got COVID,” she said. “The hardest part was, the week he was conscious in the hospital on oxygen, not a respirator, we were all down with COVID. We weren’t communicating a ton because we were all sick.”

While they were in quarantine and recovering from mild cases that consisted of headaches, fatigue and body aches, it never crossed her mind that Matt could die.

“They diagnosed him in E/R with diabetes, undiagnosed an that is what took him,” she said. “They could not get the diabetes under control and the doctor said ‘if they enter those doors with diabetes and COVID, they don’t walk out alive.’”

Matt slipped away on Nov. 10 at Bronson Battle Creek Hospital and by then, Mary and her sons were all recovered but were too late to say goodbye.

Because Matt liked listening to music, Mary wanted to give back not only to the hospital but to help other COVID-19 patients so she set out to donate 10 radios in his name.

But after making that announcement on social media, she was able to donate 40 radios to the ICU and COVID floor.

“Just to brighten their days,” she said.

Thursday was Mary’s birthday and she was flooded with memories of past birthdays celebrated with Matt.

“It’s a lot of firsts that are so hard,” she said tearfully. “I mean, taking out the trash, getting lightbulbs, mowing the lawn. The furnace broke down...it’s not just the loss, it’s trying to live life every day.”

Her husband was not only father to Tyler, Jordan and Mitch but he was their best friend, said Mary.

“They spent every day togehter,” she said. “Never did they not talk every day. We have some acreage in Athens and it’s a hunting, summer camping spot and opening day was two days after he passed, without him. They spent every day with that man. Every Thursday, my oldest and him went to the movies. My middle son, he was his rock that he could call on and then there’s Tyler, who worked with him every day who has to go to that office every single day and his Dad’s not there and he worked with him for seven straight years. He doesn’t get that anymore.”

In life, Matt was “one of the most incredible people to ever be around,” the family wrote in his obituary at Henry’s Funeral Home.

“He always found a way to touch your life and make you a better person,” read his obituary printed in the Nov. 19 Shopper News, “with his abundant generosity and love. He was one of the most positive and inspirational men to bless our lives.”

With her life turned upside down, Mary hopes others learn from her experience.

“It’s real. Get vaccinated, be respectful of people, wear your masks,” she said. “This affects people’s lives and if they don’t think it does, it’s wrong. Just call us.”

• • • • • •

News tidbits, courtesy the Calhoun County Visitor’s Bureau:

• BC Cargo stores open this Saturday. 

The list of businesses is: Cakes by Boo, Sweet Addicts BC, New Story Community Books pop-up shop, Theirlooms, Margarita 1014, Aspidistra Naturals and Creating with KK. 

The cargo stores are right next to Full Blast, across the street from the post office in Battle Creek. 

• To celebrate opening the pop-up shop, New Story is holding Check Your Shelf Book-swap. Between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. you can bring in your used books and exchange them for book tickets. Use your book tickets to swap with other booklovers.

• The American Cornhole League Michigan State Championships was at Kellogg Arena last weekend next door to Food Truck Friday and the BC Cargo Saturday events.

• Start making your Memorial Day plans now: The Full Blast water park opens Saturday, May 29. 

After being refurbished, the outdoor slides look brand new and they’re ready for summer fun.

• Want to know more about where you live? The next CTA class is open for registration. CTA stands for Certified Tourism Ambassador. 

You don’t have to work in the service industry to become a CTA -- we believe it helps when everyone knows what good things are happening in Calhoun County. 

When you sign up, you’ll receive a binder with history and attractions and other facts. 

You’ll have to attend a class from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. June 10 at Binder Park Zoo. For more information, email visitor services specialist Stacy Laur.

• Kiwanis Club pet show. is scheduled for 10 a.m. June 5, 

Kids ages 4-10 will show-and-tell their pets and maybe win a prize.

Categories are most talented, best costume, smallest/largest pet, most unusual pet and the best owner/pet look-alike. 

• The Brass Band of Battle Creek is returning with another digital concert on YouTube. 

They paid tribute to frontline heroes with the big, brassy sound the band is known for.

• Another reminder that Food Truck Friday starts at 5 p.m. at Festival Market Square. It’s part of the social district, so you can celebrate the start of the weekend with a drink. 

• The downtown social district just got a little more green: Handmap Brewing is selling insulated pint tumblers that are legal to use in the social district. 

So get it filled up at Handmap and take it down to the Farmers Market or Food Truck Friday or just go for a stroll through town. 

• Patricia Polacco is writing a book about Willard Library! 

It’s inspired by her childhood memories. If you look at the sketch posted on Facebook, you can see the original entrance with four pillars.

• Announcements for educational summer camps are popping up like daisies. 

Kellogg Community College offers more than 50 day camps with topics that range from cooking to coding. Binder Park Zoo day camps are filling up so fast, they’ve added more to the schedule. 

For kids who have a medical diagnosis that might prevent them from getting out during a pandemic, Calhoun County Health Department recommends the Summer Camp-at-Home program.