The Soto Family Journey: Saying Goodbye... For Now

It is with such a heavy heart that I post this one. On the morning of November 23, the day before Thanksgiving, Jonathan called me, just shortly after he left for work. Thinking it was a normal phone call to ask me a quick question or something, I heard him say, "Honey..." and I thought the phone was breaking up, then he repeated, "Honey..." after a long pause, and I realized that something was very wrong. I immediately said, "Oh my gosh, what's happened to your mom or dad?!". And I couldn't believe it when he uttered the words, "No... Joe passed away this morning...". Unbelievable. Tato, Joe's son (and Jonathan's nephew), called Jonathan on his way to work and broke the news, that Joe had passed away just a couple of hours before. Apparently, Margaret (Joe's wife) heard Joe inhale sharply while they were sleeping in bed, asked him what was wrong, he looked at her and inhaled sharply again, then closed his eyes. She called 911 and they worked on him for a while, but our good Lord wanted Joe back home with Him. It has completely rocked the family's world, as one can imagine. Everyone is devastated, and still shocked by this great loss. The only source of comfort is knowing that we will one day see Joe again.

Joe, age 60, was the 4th sibling in Jonathan's family of 10 kids. He was a man of God, and was pivotal in Jonathan himself coming to Christ. Joe left behind a legacy of faith, was a pastor when he wasn't working his full-time job until recently, and founded Iglesia Pentecostal Elohim, the small church where he was a pastor for so many years. I'll never forget going to their church the first time I visited his family in Buffalo when Jonathan and I were dating. The service is in Spanish. Joe, out of respect for me, preached in both English and Spanish.

Joe was very much a family man. The day before he passed away, Joe sent a text message to his two sons and both of their wives, telling them how proud he was of them, and that he loved them. The night before he passed away he told his wife how much he loved her. I have goosebumps every time I think of that. God was in so many of the details, not that it should be surprising.

Jonathan and I tried figuring out several different ways to get us back to Buffalo: flying all of us there, flying us all to Michigan to drop off the kids with my parents while he and I drove through Canada to Buffalo, driving all the way there, flying into Cincinnati to meet my parents who would take the kids while we rented a car and drove to Buffalo, etc. We also had to talk with the pediatrician about Marek flying. They said he was stable enough to go, but wondered if we wanted to risk the germs and such; besides, we didn't yet know what we were dealing with while we waited for our pulmonology appointment. So in the end, my parents bought Jonathan a plane ticket to get him home, while I had to stay back home with the kids. It was so incredible hard not being there to support him. It was a whirlwind trip, and not one you ever want to do under those circumstances, but everyone has said, it has brought this already close family even closer.

I was digging through our photos, trying to find some of Joe for Jonathan while he was in Buffalo, and came across some of these...

I know Jonathan would give almost anything just to feel this again...