Hurt 2 Hope Story

Our life was a fairy tale. We had the two princesses, the little prince.

We had that little picnic table. And we'd always sit in front of the tv. And that's how I memorized my left and right, because I always sat on the left.

Really? Yeah.

And when she would call a line at work, or Alain would call, I'm sorry. And then you're like. And she's like, soy yo.

Remember?

Instead of saying soy poppy, like, oh, yo.

Okay.

Whenever I woke up and she was still sleeping, I'd wait till she woke up. So we wake up together, I guess.

You would both come to the door at the same time, and you would open it, and nobody would come out first. So they would be waiting to see which one would come out.

Like, we had like the perfect family, the perfect life. There was so much love.

Weekends were barbecues, pool trips to Disney trips to the beach. Everything you could.

Even the day to day. Alain would dance with me with the girls. We have a video in which he's dancing with Fofi. And you came cause you wanted to be with him. And Fofi was like, mio, mio, go away, he's mine. It was beautiful. And that morning, she came out, she played the juicing game with daddy. And then we went to mass. I had been teaching them the Our Father. Fofi didn't know English. She only spoke Spanish. Like her accent was the cutest thing ever. And in the Our Father, the lady goes our. And she goes, father who are in heaven, hallowed be thy.

Nay.

Like with finishing the sentence.

And Fofi came and she wanted to go to the pool. I got ready. I went to align from him back to me. Then we did the cheerleading game.

I saw her in the deep game with some other kids. And I said, be careful with Folfi. She doesn't know how to swing too good. So in my mind, I keep on saying, if I knew it, I would take her out of the pool at that time. So after that, I came inside and I was taking care of Gordito. That's the last time I saw her.

It has been the. The most painful day of my life.

I don't. To this day, I don't know what.

Happened or how it happened. I know that I was talking to Christy, and then suddenly she. Suddenly she says, where's Fofi? And I couldn't see her. And then I realized she was right next, But at the bottom.

We got to the hospital and we were in a. In a small room with a lot of medical staff. And everybody's working on her and they're like, they're trying things. And at some point I see the monitor and there's.

There's like a line, like a straight line. Like, does that mean she's like, not like no pulse anymore. So I was like, make her heartbeat. Make her heartbeat. And that was my prayer. Like, God, make her heartbeat. Please make her heartbeat. And he didn't. He didn't make her heart beat. He didn't save her the way I wanted her to be saved.

At night, I ended up on the.

Bathroom floor and I was like rocking back and forth like a crazy person, like, wanting to rip off my head and the thoughts. And I wanted to die.

The next day, there was a lot of people here, and Alaina and I were like literally hiding in our walk in closet. And the priest that baptized all three kids came to visit. And he went into the walking closet and sat down with us on the floor. And as we're there, Alain is asking, is it possible to be happy again? And what the priest said that day forever transformed our lives. And he said, some people are. And some people are never happy again. The people that are never happy again, they think that the more they loved, the more. The more they have to suffer because that's how you show love. And the people that are happy again.

Are those who choose to love and honor your loved one through service, gratitude, and love. It was hard. It was hard. But I always had the hope. We made decisions that would lead us there. That was like our north. Do I do this or do I do that? Do I go to this retreat or is it too soon? Start a foundation and serve in her memory, or do I stay comfortable? That message, that message defined us.

You know what's always hurt me the most about this whole thing that happened. Doesn't have to do with my pain or what I'm feeling, but more with what I've thought that La Chichi is feeling. She's so awesome and so strong that without even knowing it, she's made it easier for me. But I guess that's what being a parent is. It's not. Not what you're feeling, it's what your kids are feeling.

Ophi was special. I think God sent her to Earth for a purpose.

You know how people say that you have to go through the pain to get, like, happy or something like that? I feel like if we didn't go through this, we wouldn't be as happy. And I feel like this book is gonna help a lot of people.

That's Another thing.

I was gonna say that I feel like. I don't know. I feel like we're an example to other families. Like Tish. We give them hope, and they're like, oh, they went through that and look how they are now. You know, I feel that a lot.

And there's a piece of her in everybody. Like, in Chi Chi, I feel like, because they were, like, the best friends in the world, they have something really deep that transcends time, space, and death. And then Mia is very similar to her in many ways. She's funny like her. And Gordito has the kind heart that she had. Like, he's kind and loving like she was. So I feel like we all have a piece of her. And our family has grown. We have a bunch of nieces and nephews, some very, very new and very active.

Very active.

If we went through this and we can smile again, then everybody can. So we've learned how to embody hope for the people around us and show that it is possible to be happy again. That in fact, because we've experienced excruciating pain, we've also had the opportunity to feel the most amazing joy. And when people look at us, they see that it is possible to go from hurt to hope.

Sam.