Melina Elizabeth Quispe lost her life in the early morning of November 28th.  She had woken up sick with a severe headache at 3am the morning before and was taken to the hospital.  Her husband, Alvaro, had to fight for her to be treated and the level of care is not what it might be in more developed parts of the world.  Ultimately, she was transferred to another hospital where Alvaro was told she had a stoke and would not survive.  

Melina was only 29 years old and was born in Argentina.  I met her in 2007 when she came to work at Silver Diner.  There she met Alvaro, her husband and father to their 3 kids (Loana who is 9 years old, Lio is 5, and Lauren is only 1 years old).  Alvaro worked at Silver Diner for 10+ years as well.  The family left the US about 2 years ago to go back to Bolivia.  

We are asking for donations now to help Alvaro, Loana, Lio, and Lauren through this difficult time.  Alvaro not only has to deal with the difficulties of suddenly losing his wife, but also becoming a single father of three overnight.  We can not make the grief any easier or the healing come any faster, but we would like him and his family to not also be struggling financially through this.