First of all, I want to say how sorry I am for your loss, OP. Losing a family member can be heartbreaking and even scary, especially if you are close to them. I lost my uncle (my dad's brother) back in July 2022, and it is still shocks me to this day. Even though I have a complicated relationship with my mom, I couldn't imagine losing her.
Even though my answer is a bit generic, I played a lot of New Horizons during its dawn, which was also the dawn of the pandemic. It was and is a good time burner, indeed. Even if 2020 was a sub-par year for most (if not all) of us, I have a lot of fond memories of staying at my aforementioned uncle's house
(me, my dad, and my brother stayed there for a year, so my dad could save up for this current house, which we moved into in June 2020) playing New Horizons while eating Wendy's the few months. :,)
Hell, even more recently. I was playing a lot of NL and NH back in August and September of 2023. Some of you guys probably read through some of my posts from back then, but August 24th through September 11th was a very stressful time frame for me because I was waiting on medical results and I couldn't help but think about what was possibly wrong. Thankfully, my results came back good for the most part other than "drink more water". "slightly low iron", and "slightly high bilirubin:, but I was still very stressed out while waiting. Even if it was a stressful time frame, I have good memories too, thanks to NL and NH <33333
Not just NH, but NL has also helped me through rough moments, like when Mathilda gave me a gift and told me I was a good friend back in May 2015 when I was sick, and Rooney sending me a letter telling me I was one of his few closest pals when I was spending too much time out of my comfort zone at a time back in August 2016. <3333
I feel like our villagers know how to make us feel better. Even something simple like getting "How are you doing?" and "I'm here for you" letters, or being told you can cry on their shoulder warms my heart. :,3