Since the arrival of covid in the UK almost 4,500 people in Merseyside have died of the virus.
As devastating as the loss of a loved one is at any time, in the height of lockdown, heartbreaking restrictions were placed on the normal grieving process.
Graeme Anderson, 37, initially remained positive when his mum June Anderson was taken into hospital in April last year.
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Postman Graeme said he was sure 59-year-old June, who worked as a carer and was fit and well, would make a recovery, but it soon became clear things were far more serious than he had hoped.
He said: "She was there for four or five days, and she had her phone with her and was sending messages constantly. But she deteriorated and they put her in the ICU.
"The hospital were brilliant, I could not say a bad word about them. Nothing was too much for them.
"I was quite positive all the way through but my dad was really worried from the moment she was taken to hospital."
When the devastating news came that nothing more could be done for June, her sister Linda was the only visitor allowed to attend, with the rest of her family saying goodbye over a live video call.
Graeme told the ECHO he felt as if he could not grieve.
He said: "When she died it was the height of lockdown.
"Luckily my dad had been staying at my sisters so he wasn't alone, but in normal times all the family would have been round and we would have been together.
"But when my mum died we didn't get the chance to grieve as a family.
"I sort of kidded myself that everything was fine because I basically didn't have the grieving process."
Graeme said only 15 were allowed to attend June's funeral, and the mourners all had to be sat apart due to social distancing rules.
He said: "It was a real sterile environment, everyone had to sit apart. No funeral is a happy occasion but all the family would be together, you would all go and have sandwiches afterwards.
"If it was a normal situation it would have still been a really sad day but it could have been more of a celebration of her life.
"We would have been able to come together and share happy stories about her."
Another unusual aspect of the pandemic for those who have lost loved ones is seeing the strange behaviour of conspiracy theorists who deny the seriousness or even the existence of the virus.
Graeme said: "It has been frustrating seeing these people protesting, and when you drive around you see the graffiti.
"I don't know what these people are trying to achieve."
Another son mourning the loss of a parent in traumatic circumstances is Jamie Mawson.
Jamie told the ECHO he cannot believe its now 16 months since his dad, Richard Mawson, died of the virus.
Richard was 70-years-old, fit and healthy, when he caught Covid-19 days before the first lockdown in 2020.
His family believe he caught the virus while attending Liverpool's controversial match with Atletico Madrid at Anfield on March 11 - a game many people believe should not have gone ahead.
The covid situation was spiralling badly in Spain, and Madrid in particular, yet hundreds of Atletico fans were able to travel into Liverpool for the match - which was the last the Reds would play for months.
After Richard caught covid, things moved devastatingly quickly.
He rapidly deteriorated and was taken away by ambulance to hospital, with his traumatised wife and son unable to go with him.
He was struggling to breathe and quickly placed onto a ventilator which sadly he never came off.
Jamie and his mum Mary were unable to go to the hospital to say their final goodbyes to Richard - instead having to do so on a video call.
Coronavirus restrictions meant that just 10 people were able to attend Richard's funeral - his family said hundreds would have been there if it was allowed.
Jamie said: "That was hard, we wanted to have a packed church and a proper celebration of his life but we could only have ten people there.
"When we looked out of the church window, a lot of people had gathered outside and were singing You'll Never Walk Alone, which was special.
"But not being able to say goodbye in the hospital and not give my dad a proper send off was really hard."
Jamie, from Kirkdale in Liverpool, said the family now hope to hold a proper celebration of Richard's life around the first anniversary of his death.
He said: "We think that's an appropriate time to get people together to have the proper celebration of his life that we couldn't have last year."
In honour of those lost, a new website titled Britain Remembers is collecting donations for NHS Charities Together - an independent membership charity supporting NHS patients, staff and volunteers.
For NHS staff and volunteers especially – many of whom have experienced significant emotional trauma, and remain physically and mentally exhausted – their support is needed now more than ever.
Ellie Orton, chief executive at NHS Charities Together, said: “The last 18 months have been overwhelming for us all.
“So many of us have lost colleagues, friends, family and loved ones that it is difficult to comprehend.
“Not only that, but many of us have not been able to grieve our loss in the way we would have wanted.
“That’s why as we move forward, it’s so important that we pay tribute to and properly commemorate those we lost – and Britain Remembers is a wonderful way to do that."
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