ORLANDO, Fla. – An Orlando couple is honoring those who lost their battle with COVID-19 through their holiday display.
“We sit out here every night and look at the people pass by and look at the lights and there’s not a night that we don’t cry,” Frank Boyce said when he and his husband, David Nubar think about the victims of the pandemic.
“It’s sad and moving but worth recognizing all those folks that are no longer here,” David Nubar said.
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They’re recognizing the victims by memorializing them with more than 220,000 Christmas lights placed all around their home.
The couple put the lights up in October. It was during that time the U.S. recorded more than 220,000 deaths-- the death toll is represented in their display. As of Wednesday, more than 240,000 have died in the U.S.
Every night since Nov. 2 they’ve been honoring the victims.
“We asked ourselves based on what’s been going on with COVID 19 and the tragedy that it’s cost, what can we do special this year to honor those that are lost?” Nubar said.
Each light signifies a life.
“Even though those souls are lost we feel like each light brings them back to light. And it’s overwhelming when people come and see, and they see that each light is a lost victim to COVID 19. It puts it all in perspective,” Nubar said.
Although the couple hasn’t lost a loved one to the virus, in late October they did have a scare when Frank contracted COVID-19 and was sick for three weeks.
“My biggest fear was, you know him getting it because he’s a little bit older than I am,” Frank said. “We cracked the windows in the house so the airborne would disperse a lot better in the house. I wore two masks in the house the whole time.”
Frank didn’t require hospitalization, but the experience was still painful and difficult for both.
“It was 3 weeks of not so fun. We separated in the home, social distanced, masks, gloves in our own home. That was personal enough for me. Not knowing what the outcome would be,” David said.
Now that Frank has recovered, he hopes people will keep the victims who’ve lost their battle to COVID-19 in their thoughts.
“They might be gone but never forgotten,” he said.
The display is located at 2811 Clemwood Street in Orlando.