Overwhelmed by the fear of coronavirus affecting her loved ones, one South Florida teen decided to put her feelings into words and wrote a heartfelt letter to her dad.
Franny Gonzalez, a junior at Miami Beach High School, can rarely see her 72-year-old father due to social distancing and his underlying health conditions.
"I’m just one of those people who can work with my emotions and writing them down," the 17-year-old said.
The letter, titled "Love Letter to My Papa," was published in Miami's Community Newspapers.
"I have a father, an emotional, overbearing, caring-to-a-fault father filled with love for me and my siblings down to his big toe," Franny wrote in the letter. "I am 17, and my father is older than most, he’s 72."
Emilio Gonzalez survived cancer and has heart issues and diabetes.
"To think that such a strong man can be yanked away by the coronavirus is beyond words," she wrote. "As I sit in my bed writing this, tears in my eyes and throat choked up, all I can think of is that I cannot lose my papa."
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Emilio got emotional listening to his daughter read the letter.
"I shouldn’t talk," he said. "I got a knot in my throat ... she's so beautiful, such a beautiful heart. And to be honest, I’m living for my kids."
And even with social distancing, their love and affection is unmeasured.
"Ever since I was little, I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that my father will not live as long as my friends’ fathers," Franny wrote. "The hourglass of our time was half removed before I was even born! In my mind, my father is invincible, and I cannot imagine a world where he’s not flirting with waitresses and calling me at least twenty times per day."
