I call him my "father" because he wasn't blood. But he and his family were as close to the real thing as you could get for me without being blood. It was a familial bond that developed from my parents hosting exchange students years ago and that bond grew into true family. They live in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. My parents hosted their daughter about 25 years ago. While she was here, her father and a friend came to visit and stayed 2 weeks with us. After she went back home after the school year, I flew to Brasil and stayed with them for 2 weeks. This became an annual thing for me until I got married and had kids and could no longer afford to trip.
I learned earlier this afternoon that my Brazilian father passed this morning from COVID. He had been in the hospital since last week and was actually getting better. He hadn't been on a ventilator and was only on oxygen. Even yesterday, they were telling the family that he was improving and doing well. Then they got a call this morning that they needed to come to the hospital and once there, they were told he had passed. It is crazy how quickly things can change. He was near 70, but looked and acted like a man in his 50's. Still active, still semi working, still climbing on top of the house to repair the TV wiring, home schooling his grandchild while school was out, etc. To find out that the virus took him was shocking and heart-breaking.
This thing will touch everyone in some way before all is said and done. I am a proponent for opening back up but I also know that whether we keep ourselves locked in or we open back up, at some point, this thing is going to touch everyone in some way. Keep your family close and make sure they know you love them because they can be gone in an instant.
I learned earlier this afternoon that my Brazilian father passed this morning from COVID. He had been in the hospital since last week and was actually getting better. He hadn't been on a ventilator and was only on oxygen. Even yesterday, they were telling the family that he was improving and doing well. Then they got a call this morning that they needed to come to the hospital and once there, they were told he had passed. It is crazy how quickly things can change. He was near 70, but looked and acted like a man in his 50's. Still active, still semi working, still climbing on top of the house to repair the TV wiring, home schooling his grandchild while school was out, etc. To find out that the virus took him was shocking and heart-breaking.
This thing will touch everyone in some way before all is said and done. I am a proponent for opening back up but I also know that whether we keep ourselves locked in or we open back up, at some point, this thing is going to touch everyone in some way. Keep your family close and make sure they know you love them because they can be gone in an instant.
