Our mother, Carmen Melendez passed away Thursday night in New York. She had just turned 85 on the 21st of this month. She was the strongest woman we knew. She had a difficult childhood, raised a daughter with severe cerebral palsy that never walked, or talked, lost her husband to cancer after 40 years of marriage, survived breast cancer and an aggressive form of colon cancer. Although she was bed bound for a couple of years, she was stable until she ended up in the hospital a couple of weeks ago with an infection. My older brother, Ismael Melendez Jr,  who has health issues of his own, was her caretaker and boy did he care for her. Her comfort and happiness was his number one priority. Tragically, she took a turn for the worse during this Pandemic so she was rushed by paramedics to the hospital Thursday night; her ID forgotten in the frenzy of the situation. My brother was not allowed to go with her and was advised to stay home because he would not be allowed in the hospital due to Covid19 protocol . After some time and several grueling phone calls, she was identified and my brother was informed that she had died after a massive heart attack despite their efforts. She died alone as a “Jane Doe” because she had no ID and I don’t know how we will ever get over that. This pandemic has twisted the hearts and souls of so many people who have had to let their love ones die alone as hospitals are on lock down. The pain is immeasurable as I feel the weight of the grief of the world. It was taking a lot of effort on my part to keep sane in a world that seems so insane right now. I live in Florida and the pain, grief and guilt that I feel for not being able to go to New York and support my brother and lay my mother to rest is crushing. We don’t have a large family to begin with, but with New York being the epicenter of this virus for this country right now, his support system is minimal. This feels like a nightmare. I pray for strength and I pray for hope because I’m on empty right now. We would like to ask for donations of any amount that would help us with her funeral expenses as she did not have a life insurance policy. I realize that these are tumultuous times financially for everyone worldwide so anything that can be spared would be appreciated immensely.

With Sincere Appreciation,

Carmen M. Bernard
Ismael Melendez Jr.