A Field of Flags

An excerpt from the Boston Globe - 

A patriotic forest takes root to fight a stubborn, invisible — and deadly — enemy

More than 8,000 flags fly as emblems of resolve against a pandemic

By Thomas Farragher 

Michael Labbe stood beside the field of flags he and his family have planted
in front of their home to honor all of those
who have died from COVID-19 in Massachusetts.
JESSICA RINALDI/GLOBE STAFF

GRAFTON – It happens several times a day on the gently sloping road where Michael Labbe is tending a star-spangled garden.

A car slows and pulls over. A camera is raised. A prayer is said. And then the passersby move on in a sudden and solemn silence.

Occasionally, they get out for a handshake. Or an air hug.

Just like 71-year-old Rhonda Lavallee did the other day as she stood in near disbelief to take in the forest of flags that has suddenly blossomed on Labbe’s front lawn.

There are more than 8,000 of them now, each one a red-white-and-blue emblem to a life lost to a killer pandemic that clouds America’s Independence Day, a holiday usually punctuated by kaleidoscopic fireworks and cozy backyard cookouts with family and friends.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/02/nation/patriotic-forest-takes-root-fight-stubborn-invisible-deadly-enemy/