OREM, Utah – A Utah family is pushing precautions after losing not one, but two family members to COVID-19 just one day apart.
“He loved duct tape, he tried to put stuff together,” said Claudia Alonso as she held a gift that was given to her by her father – a carved coconut with a flower pot taped to the back and the words ‘love you’ painted along the top.
“He kind of added this for pens or markers,” she continued as she pointed to holes that were drilled in.
Nowadays, the little things mean a lot more to the Alonso family.
“I treasure them because they’re very special, meaningful,” Claudia said.
Whether it be an old coconut, or family photos of happy times passed.
“That’s my grandpa,” Claudia’s daughter, Lupe Migliaccio said as she scrolled through photos on her phone. “My great grandma and my mom.”
“I’m trying really hard to keep my composure, they meant a lot to me, they meant a lot to our family,” Lupe continued.
For the Alonsos, lightning struck twice this week.
“We never thought this would happen to us,” said Lupe.
Last Thursday, coronavirus claimed the life of her great grandmother, age 87. Last Friday, the virus claimed the life of her grandfather, age 76.
“This is like unreal… to have one person die from it is one thing, but to have two people die from it is completely something different,” Lupe said. “I think we’re more afraid now than we were at the beginning.”
Now devastated, drained and brokenhearted, the Alonsos are trying to more forward as a family. They just hope others won’t have to experience the same kind of pain.
“This is something that isn’t just going to happen to us, it’s going to happen to everyone,” said Claudia.
“I hope that people take it a little more seriously because I feel like if we would have, maybe they would still be here,” Lupe said.
A fundraising page has been set up to help cover the costs of the double funeral and to help support their surviving grandmother. A link can be found here.
