“Hey, I will see you soon at the library! If possible, could you please bring any things that remind you of him?” I texted Daniela in the morning. “Sure, I will think about it and bring something with me. See you soon!” she responded.

 

In the afternoon of November 12th, 2021 at Harlem Library, I met Daniela Gutierrez and Jeremiah Barrios. Daniela is the mother of Jeremiah; Jeremiah was a newborn baby at that time. It was for the oral history interview about the life story of Julio Barrios, who passed away from COVID-19 in 2020. Julio Barrios was her father-in-law of Daniela. Daniela started living with Julio’s son, Juan Barrios when she was thirteen years old after her own father left home. Since then, Daniela has lived with Julio’s family for almost 20 years. Julio became like a father to Daniela as time went by; she stated that she felt real family love. She described the relationship with Julio, saying, “This is what families do, this is what fathers do.”  Now Daniela misses Julio so much. During the interview, she shared how deeply Julio meant to his family, friends, neighbors, and people around him. I was grateful to re-imagine Julio’s life through Daniela’s lens.

 

Daniela came with a baby stroller where Jeremiah was sleeping. “Here you go.” Daniela glanced at the baby and then continued, “Jeremiah is the one that reminds me of Julio always because Julio was expecting so much his grandchild from Juan and I. But we didn’t have a plan while he was around. Then Jeremiah came to us six months later he passed away. Juan and I believe Julio sent Jeremiah to us.”  

 

Despite Jeremiah’s lovely smiles pervading their house, Julio’s family still lives with that traumatized day when the hospital sent Julio’s ashes in a plastic bag. Now Julio’s ashes stay in a beautiful flower-patterned container in the family's house in Queens. Amada, Julio's wife, Juan's mother, plans to leave the United States for Mexico where she was born, as soon as she gets better from the knee surgery she had recently.