By Eddie Adalpe, CBF field personnel
After the recent floods in Southern Spain, I met a family that lost so much. Their son with autism was struggling during the pandemic, so they decided to rent a place out in the countryside. They spent time outdoors and got some animals which were such good therapy for their son.
They had a fully furnished house and a shed where the father, a carpenter by trade, kept his tools. A couple of days before the floods he had car trouble with his work van and was so upset. Little did he know how that was going to work out.
The floods came and destroyed just about everything in its path. They had to wait days for the water to go down, before they could reach the property and assess the damage. They could not help but cry when they saw what was left. Except for a goose, the animals were all gone. All their belongings were scattered throughout the area. The shed where the father kept his tools was a total loss and if it hadn’t been for the car troubles, he would have lost everything.
They don’t know why they took their son with them knowing that they were going to this terrible situation. He started asking about his animals and kept looking all over for them. As he began to cry, he looked towards the middle of the property and right there he started yelling with excitement. His tire swing was still there. He ran and started swinging himself thanking his swing for surviving. He spent the rest of the time swinging and talking to it about all that he had lost.
Suddenly, he stopped swinging and remembered his favorite stuffed elf figure, Caramelo. He knew that Caramelo was inside the house, and he begged his parents to please save Caramelo. The parents couldn’t take anymore losses and didn’t want their son to see that either. They kept him distracted as he continued swinging and processing that he had lost his animals but was persistent with rescuing Caramelo.
The family decided to return in a couple of days and this time without their son. Once again, they cried when they saw all the water damage and mess the floods caused inside of their home. It’s amazing how something so insignificant can turn things around. They had been trying to think of how they were going to deal with the loss of Caramelo. They were expecting the worst. Their son couldn’t stop talking about Caramelo and couldn’t wait to see him. When they went into their son’s room there was Caramelo on top of the dresser. It was as if he had climbed up high to avoid the floods.
It was such a sight watching the look on this boy’s face when he saw his swing and as he processed his losses while he swung back and forth. We were not there when his parents took Caramelo to him, but they sent us the video. After spending time assisting families and feeling like we really weren’t doing much. This boy helped us to find a silver lining in the middle of this tragedy.