Grief at a Distance This is Grief at a Distance, a column by Matt Ortile examining his grief over his mother’s death in the Philippines during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cover Photo: A Polaroid-style photo collage of the author, Matt Ortile, taken across various indoor and outdoor restaurant tables. Handwritten at the bottom of each photo is the number of days that have passed since his mother's death: 14 days later, 617 days later, 434 days later, and 311 days later.
How to Date While You’re Grieving

The point of dating is to get to know another person. It’s a process made more confusing when, in my grief, I’m getting reacquainted with myself.

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Matt Ortile
Mar 15, 2022
Columns | Grief At A Distance
Cover Photo: A photograph of the actress Sarah Jessica Parker, playing Carrie Bradshaw, in HBO Max's 'And Just Like That.' She is wearing a black long-sleeved top, a black fascinator hat, and a wide dark skirt. She stands against a bare white wall behind the backs of six white chairs.
‘And Just Like That’ Isn’t Perfect, But It Gets Grief Right

In the ‘Sex and the City’ reboot, Carrie Bradshaw’s arc is one of the most truthful depictions of mourning I’ve ever seen on TV.

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Matt Ortile
Feb 07, 2022
Columns | Arts & Culture | Grief At A Distance
Cover Photo: A black and white portrait photograph of Princess Diana. She is staring at the camera and smiling very slightly.
My Mom, Princess Diana, and Me

At what point does someone we’ve lost become only a story we tell, more myth than memory?

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Matt Ortile
Nov 08, 2021
Columns | Grief At A Distance
Cover Photo: collage consisting of several photos of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and the author baking them
Baking My Mother’s Recipes Keeps Her Near

Baking was solely Mom’s domain, I believed, and cooking for her was mine.

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Matt Ortile
Aug 04, 2021
Columns | Grief At A Distance
Cover Photo: Screenshot via Nintendo
I Can’t Defeat My Grief, But I’m Learning to Carry It

In video games, dead parent storylines give a character depth. Their grief becomes a plot point, something to overcome.

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Matt Ortile
Feb 22, 2021
Columns | Grief At A Distance
Cover Photo: photograph of a gold-framed photograph of the author as a child, with his mother, on a shelf also containing a clock and a wooden jewelry box with a vase and framed art behind
My Mother Lives Here Because I Live Here

It was the middle of a pandemic. Mom had just died of cancer. Why leave my home of four and a half years?

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Matt Ortile
Jan 20, 2021
Columns | Grief At A Distance