With a strengthened spirit by Jodie Padilla

Guayaquil Hub, Ecuador Originally from Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador

The pandemic has brought us joys and sorrows and that is the very essence of existence because after the storm comes calm. In Guayaquil we lived very difficult moments between March and April. The bodies laid on the streets of the poor and wealthy neighborhoods. The disease had no mercy and every citizen of Guayaquil lost a loved one, a friend, or a neighbor. I personally lost 4 family members, all older adults. Given so much pain, the opportunity to live a different duel remained, we were able to shelter the pain of our loved ones who lived under the same roof more closely. That was the great surprise that this pandemic brought. Before, with the hustle and bustle of life, you could hardly take the time to talk about what happened and in the cloister it was possible. The mourning was lived differently but the recovery was more spiritual. The sorrows soon turned into talks about the beautiful memories that were shared with the lost loved ones, suddenly the tear turned into a smile, because as expected, everything happens at the right time and we mysteriously remember that we were able to enjoy one last moment of unforgettable happiness for what it meant for how we lived it, for the growth it represented in the lives of those of us who remained. Without a doubt the spirit was strengthened, the small things became the most important, the closeness in the human warmth that we left in the background and the love of our family in the pillar that we had already left aside. I don’t want to add more stripes to the tiger that has already haunted us so much this year, I want to rescue that the pandemic did not destroy me but rather left me with a strengthened spirit.