The year was 1997.....Part 2

So in my previous post I wrote about my childhood best friend Noelis passing away.

Now we have reached the more difficult part of my life. At the beginning of the month in August we found out that my father's mother passed away. So everyone in the family took a trip to PR for the funeral. My little brother & I stood home in NJ with my mom's mother. My mother told me that the day they were supposed to come back from PR to NJ my dad went to the cemetery & asked his mother if she can take him with her in the after life.....

The widow (in the middle) my dad's father, along w/ my mom.

Crazy to think but she did grant him his wish because 2 wks after that we had a tragic loss in the family. On August 24th my life along with my mother's changed drastically all at once. 

We had been on vacation for a week so far in Honduras visiting my mother's family for the first time. It was the first time my mother had been back in 16 yrs & it was the first time for my father, me, my little brother, & cousins. My mother's sister from Maryland went also from Maryland along with my mother's mother. We had been there for a week enjoying the sun, having fun. Visiting beautiful beaches, family, & new places. My dad had rented a van so we can go everywhere & anywhere. So our "tour guide" was my mother's sister who lived in Honduras. There were always 10 passengers in the van. My father Jose, my mother Miriam, me, my little brother Anthony, & my grandma Leopoldina from Jersey. Then my aunt Mary, her son Junior & daughter Lizzie from Maryland(my uncle couldn't make it so he stood home). From Honduras we always had my aunt Norma & her 3 yr old son Jose.



This is everyone - my aunt Mary was taking the pic - along with Norma's husband all the way on the left.

The day we had the accident we were actually going to a friends house but before getting to our destination we ate at Pizza Hut around 3PM then after that hit a flea market & we went on our way. Around 5PM on Sunday, August 24th, 1997 our world turned upside down. A city bus ate the stop sign & came right towards us. My cousin Lizzie & my mom saw the bus but it was too late. The driver was drugged & drunk, plus he was late for work so he was in a hurry. 

This is what hit us & you can see the mini van in the background....

Here is a closer look.....

We lost my grandmother immediately after the bus hit us. My dad we lost in the taxi on the way to the hospital (the ambulances never came). My little brother Anthony passed away in a hospital all by himself. My aunt Norma passed away after giving her sister some phone #'s. Since the ambulance's never got to the seen taxi drivers were nice enough to take us to the hospitals but they didnt take everyone to the same one hence us being all in different places.

My cousin Junior almost passed away due to his horrible asthma & had 300 stitches in along with the inside of his face alone. He also suffered a broken right arm. 

My aunt Norma's son Jose was in really bad shape also but survived .

I was asleep during the accident so I was unconcious until the the time I was in the hospital. I woke up to nurses & Dr's trying to take off some of my clothes so they can take some X-Rays. I was bleeding from my head. I lost so much blood I almost died, & they had said I was never going to walk again.

My mom, my aunt Mary, & Lizzie were ok they just had a few bumps & bruises. It was a horrible experience, my mother had to put her mother & sister to rest on the same day in Honduras.

My grandmother & aunt Norma's funeral

While everything was happening I didn't know what was going on in the hospital & I had not seen my mother of family since Sunay until they went to pick me up on Wednesday afternoon after the funeral. To fly home 2 days later for my father & lil brother's viewing & funeral also that week.

The blue one is my brother & the other one is my dad.

Summer of 97' was vrey hard on my family but we have learned to live with it & conitnue living our lives but it does get very difficult at times when I go back & remember. I will never forget 8/24/97.....

R.I.P Daddy, Aunt Norma, & Abuela Leo

The last day they were on Earth......

Sorry if this was long but I hope you guys got to know about my life little better now.