Choose Love: Help Eduardo to Overcome his New Challenge

“Rise Up and Walk! Help Eduardo to Walk Again” was the name of our first GoFundMe campaign in December 2020. My brother Eduardo had recently lost his left leg due to complications with diabetes, and his livelihood was suddenly halted. Thanks to the solidarity and overwhelming generosity of many people, including our church family and friends, he received a prosthesis that enabled him to recover much of his self-confidence, resume work, and regain mobility and independence. As a welder, he has been able to work on independent projects that allow him to support himself. The process of adapting to the prosthesis was long and painful, and new complications arose along the way, including the death of his daughter Laura due to COVID-19. Throughout it all, he persevered with determination, hope, and unwavering faith.

Recently a new challenge has developed. Eduardo’s prosthesis requires replacement parts due to deterioration and normal wear. Since the price of these parts is beyond the reach of my family, I am launching a new campaign that I call “I Choose Love.” This is the title of an inspiring song shared at the end of the previous campaign by the Rev. Len Scales of Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton, NJ, my home church. The composer is the Rev. Dr. Mark Miller, who interestingly is now my esteemed colleague at Drew University’s Theological School, and the lyrics speak to choosing love in the face of pain and sorrow.

I invite you to listen to this song or watch Mark Miller interpreting it the day after he composed it (I Choose Love). My brother Eduardo’s journey has not been easy. The image of the “sorrow falling down like rain” just starts to describe everything he has gone through. I myself am choosing love to help him “await the sun again” and I invite you to join me in choosing love.

My brother Eduardo lives in Puebla, Mexico with his wife Bety, and two of his grandchildren. The picture above is from our most recent visit. From left to right: Bety (my brother's wife), myself and my son Max, my wife Brandy and my older son Oliver, my brother Eduardo and my dad Guillermo, and Ricardo and Mateo, my brother's grandchildren. My name is Francisco Pelaez-Diaz. I teach at Drew University's Theological School.