This is a first-person testimonial from Betsy Guerra and family members (including Alain) about their life as a close-knit family, the accidental loss of their daughter (referred to as Fofi/Sophie) at a pool, the immediate hospital experience, and how they processed grief. A priest’s counsel—distinguishing people who become happy again vs. those who remain in perpetual suffering—shapes their decision to honor their child through service and gratitude. The family frames the experience as a journey “from hurt to hope,” asserting that deep pain can coexist with, and eventually enable, profound joy and the capacity to model hope for others.
Chapters
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.
Yeah, we had like, the. The perfect family, the perfect life. There was so much love.
Weekends were barbecues, pool trips to Disney, trips to the beach.
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.
Like, go away. He's mine.
I remember taking pictures in the barbecue. One time I came and I saw her in the deep game with some other kids. And I said, be careful with Sophie. She doesn't know how to swim too good. So in my mind, I keep on saying, if I knew it, I. I would take her out of the pool. That's the last time I saw her.
It has been the most painful day of my life.
To this day, I don't know what happened or how it happened. I know that I was talking to Christy, and then suddenly. Suddenly she says, where's Fofi?
And I couldn't see her.
And then I realized she was right next to me, But at the bottom.
We got to the hospital, and we were in a small room, and at some point, I see the monitor, and.
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.
The next day, there was a lot of people here, and the priest that baptized all three kids came to visit, and he went into the walk in 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 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 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. That message defined us.
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.
Ophi was special, and I feel like.
We all have a piece of her. 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 if we went through this and we can smile again, then everybody can, because they see that it is possible to go from hurt to hope.
