Letters to Heaven: When it Rains, it Storms

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea." —PSALM 46:1–2

June 9, 2013

Dear Jesus:

I have decided to go into hibernation. Please wake me up when 2013 ends.

On the weekend when my dad had the bypass surgery of his leg, we were supposed to travel to UConn for Alex's orientation. I cancelled my flight, but Alex and Rafael were scheduled to leave on Sunday. Once again, You laughed at our plans. Alex woke up with a temperature of 101 and a lot of pain in his throat. Rafe and I decided that it was best to cancel the trip. There is another orientation towards the end of June. He can attend that one.

On Monday, I accompanied Alex to the doctor. He had a bad ear infection so we made the right decision to cancel the trip to UConn. On Tuesday afternoon, I left the house to go to the hospital. My mom had spent the day with my dad and I was going to take the night shift. It had been raining so the floor in front of the house was wet. As I was getting to the car, I slipped and felt on my right knee. The pain was horrible. I was able to limp my way back into the house. Thank You that Chabeli and Alex were there. Alex brought me Advil and Chabeli an ice pack. I iced it for two hours but I couldn't move it. Chabeli drove me to the ER, and just as I suspected, I had a broken bone. The X-rays showed that I had fractured the patella, best known as the kneecap. Seriously Jesus, when it rains, it pours. How am I supposed to help my mom with my dad now? I cannot drive, and hopefully, I won't need surgery. And with this broken knee, I won't be able to go to UConn for Alex's orientation.

As if a rain pour was not enough, last night You sent us a storm. I collapsed into bed early because I was exhausted from spending ten hours at the rehab center with my dad. I was so tired that I must have fallen asleep the minute my head hit the pillow. It didn't matter that both Chabeli and Alex were out. I entrusted them to You and I passed out.

At midnight, the phone rang. It's always bad news when the phone rings at that time. I noticed in the caller ID that it was Alex. I answered and in my stupor from coming out of a deep sleep, all I heard was: "We went egging... We hit a car... We are being chased... They threw a rock... Police... Please come... You can scream at me later but I need you now." I threw myself from the bed, forgot I had a broken knee so almost felt, and at least had the good sense to ask him: "where are you?"

My very "smart" kid who just graduated "cum laude" from high school, had nothing better to do so he decided to go throw eggs at moving cars. Not on his own of course. He was joined by two, also very "smart" friends. They hit a car which immediately did a U-turn and began to chase them through the streets of Miami for about twenty minutes. They were speeding, running through red lights and stop signs... It must have looked like the movie "Fast and Furious." But Jesus, thank You for protecting them because they could have ended up in a really bad accident. Apparently, at one point the other car blocked them, two men got out of the car, grabbed a rock and threw it at them. They had to drive on top of the sidewalk to get away. The car continued chasing them until they saw a police officer and flagged him to stop. They told the police officer that the other car was chasing them and throwing rocks at them, but they forgot to mention that they had started it all by throwing an egg at the other car. That's when Alex got real scared and he called us.

When Rafe got there, he went to the police and he introduced himself. The two men wanted to press charges. Rafe was able to calm them down. Eventually, they said: "we don't want to ruin their lives but we also don't want the paint in our car to be ruined." If Rafe had not been there, the boys would have been taken to jail. He told the two men that they would be reimbursed for any damages to their car. They also went to a car wash at that hour of the night, and the three boys washed the men's car. It all ended up with a traffic ticket and a dent on Alex's friend's car from the rock. It could have been so much worst. Thank You, Jesus, for protecting them. I hope they learn the lesson, but just in case, Alex is punished for the rest of the summer. His car has been confiscated. He can only use it to drive to his summer job at the Belen camp, and to drive me, since I cannot drive because of my fractured knee. I just got myself a private chauffeur. 

Jesus, please, can You send us some sunshine? If You are going to continue sending storms our way, please wake me up when 2013 is over. Hibernation sounds really good right about now.

I love You, Jesus!!!

June 20, 2017

Dear Jesus:

I'm stressed out just from reading my 2013 journal. That was one tough year. But we survived it, with your help. The sun eventually came out and the storms subsided. Thank You for teaching us how to dance in the rain.

I love You, Jesus!!!