Anna Maria Island (United States) (AFP)

When Cathy Tobias wanted to pay tribute to each death of Covid-19 in Florida, she had no idea that her home would soon find itself wrapped in colorful ribbons.

Hanging from a rope, the ribbons now weave their way around on either side of her patio, creep up through her stairs, to the balcony of her house on the island of Anna Maria and its village, located on the west coast of Florida.

More than 30,000 ribbons are now suspended, for as many deaths from Covid-19 in this state in the southeast of the United States, the colors varying from pale pink to vermilion, passing through fluorescent green.

Sitting on her porch with a neighbor who helped her create the memorial, Cathy Tobias recalls starting to tie the ribbons to better visualize the grim death toll in the Sunshine State. ".

"Watching the numbers evolve at the same rate as our ability to tie the ribbons, it strikes us strongly and deeply, because we realize how many people have died or are dying", laments this 67-year-old woman. , physiotherapist now retired.

Cathy Tobias' house sits at the end of the main tourist island road, a narrow strip of land just over 7 miles long.

Visitors get around in golf carts or rental bicycles, and shop in beachside shops, before taking a dip in the mint-colored water.

According to her, the tribute obviously brings up a certain mixture of emotions.

"It is in a way (a tribute) festive because we celebrate life", argues Cathy Tobias.

"Each of these people has a family, loved ones, friends, who are all deeply affected, and I didn't want them to be lost in this pandemic," she adds.

She knows "what it feels like, unfortunately to lose a loved one," she says, her first child having died, less than a month old.

- "A work of love" -

Tying ribbons may seem like an easy task, but when Florida found itself in the midst of the pandemic and its ravages, Cathy Tobias and her neighbor Lucy Kancy devised a system to keep track of every death.

For every 10 deaths, they tie a white ribbon.

After that, each ribbon representing 500, 1,000, and 10,000 deaths is punctuated with an inscription denoting the sad crossing of a new threshold.

"It takes a long time, it's a labor of love," said Lucy Kancy, 69 years old.

“Cutting them to the right size takes hours. And after that, before you even know it, it's time to start over,” she says.

Last month Cathy Tobias exhibited the ribbons for the first time on one of the island's beaches.

Arranged in a single long file, they extended over 200 meters.

Cathy Tobias had brought markers so that visitors could write the names of their deceased loved ones on the ribbons.

She hoped in this way to provide some relief to those who had lost someone, especially those who were unable to attend the funeral and had the chance to say goodbye.

Many "died alone, and families did not have the opportunity to properly mourn, or have a proper funeral," she said.

Everyone is encouraged to enter a name, even if the deceased did not die of Covid-19 in Florida.

So far, 40 names have been registered.

The book back home, Cathy Tobias is now wondering what she can do with his creation.

In the short term, the ribbons will be on display this month in the nearby city of St. Petersburg.

Cathy Tobias also dreams of seeing a monument of ribbons dedicated to the victims of Covid-19 in each American state, to pay tribute to the more than 500,000 dead in the United States, the country most affected in the world by the pandemic.

For now, Cathy Tobias keeps her focus on the Florida deaths.

"I'm just going on. I'm just trying to keep up the pace," she says.

© 2021 AFP