- [Film Director] This was 11 years ago, I made this.
- [Dad] Yeah, I remember that.
A beautiful beginning the way you started off like that.
- [Mom] Yeah, the colors of the flowers, my mama.
- [Film Director] Tell me about this trailer, mom.
When did you get it?
- [Mom] We got the trailer in 1994.
- [Film Director] Oh, 94.
- [Mom] Yeah.
It's legally ours.
The metal's deteriorating.
You know then the siding, the roof needs a whole new roof.
I grew up in Brooklyn.
- [Dad] Mean the Bronx.
But we came down here because your niece got shot.
- [Mom] No, we got.
Lati got shot way before that.
We just wanted to visit and we liked it and we were safe.
A nice place to raise kids.
- [Dad] I like it because for you, it was pretty safe for you.
- [Mom] We have gone through a lot of health crisis with him and stuff like that, but we have accomplished a mobile home.
Three brand new cars paid off.
One, your dad crashed cause he had low sugar.
How many people could say that they have done that in their time?
Not many.
- [Dad] What?
Crash a car?
- [Mom] No, not crash a car (group laughs) That's true, right?
It went right into that.
That's a good one honey.
No, I didn't mean that.
The robe looks kind of funny, David.
I got a brand new one in blue, let me get it.
- [Dad] You look good the way you are.
- No, this one looks ugly.
Look at all the bumps and it shows that people gonna say I look horrible.
Wait.
Okay?
- [Film Director] Does that look better now?
The robe?
- Yes, it was in 1981, almost 82.
81, we worked together.
It was called the Federation of the Handicap.
And then we got married in 1994.
While we were getting married, we had to rush him to the emergency room the same night.
- Boy, we hated that thing.
The first visit at kidney center.
I thank God that I have a wife.
She take good care of me.
(hospital machines beeping) Ow.
Yeah, that hurts right there.
I need a lollipop.
- [Nurse] You need a lollipop?
- [Dad] My hands hurt me.
- [Film Director] What's wrong with your hands?
- [Dad] Nerve damage.
Feels like needles sticking in my hands, a lot of needles.
Then my hands begin to feel like it's on fire.
(angelic music plays) - [Mom] My knee replacement, October 2nd, I had a knee replacement and then I had a hip replacement.
I got two of them.
Yeah, it's painful, but I mentally have to get myself better because I have other people that depend on me, like my husband and my mom, my dad.
I remember in 2004, when my husband was really, really ill I seen my husband cringing like this, like this, like this with his hand palm.
But he was like in a state like this really quiet.
And I seen he was really stiff and I tried to call out to him and I see him sweating profusely.
I tried to pick him up, but I couldn't pick him up and he fell.
- My experience of death was that I felt myself floating in a fetal position.
That's how I felt, just floating.
It felt so good.
And then all of a sudden I felt like being pulled.
Have you ever felt have you ever done this stood beside your bed and just went back.
You ever done that?
- [Film Director] Yeah.
- That's the same way I felt going back into my body.
That's when mommy, thank God mommy was there.
If not, I would've died.
After that, I just wanted to live.
(soft piano music plays) (dad groans in pain) - [Mom] Ooh, you sweating, honey, let me get you a blanket.
Let me get you a towel.
Let me get him a towel.
You know, last few years weren't easy for him nor I as a wife, because the way I loved him I couldn't, you know, help ease the pain.
(dad groans in pain) - [Dad] I don't feel good.
- You gotta keep eating.
Eat some of this.
- [Dad] Give me more.
- [Mom] Pop it in his mouth baby.
Don't let him just pop it in there.
- [Film Director] What?
- [Mom] Shove it in his mouth cause he needs a lot of sugar.
They got 75.
Open the mouth.
- [Film Director] Open your mouth.
- [Dad] I know one day I'm gonna pass away, but I wanna do it here.
Do not wanna do it in dialysis.
- [Mom] Just a sick guy, but he pushed through.
So he was a warrior.
I say that the word fighter, his name should go right underneath because he fought until the end that his body just couldn't take it no more.
And I had to call hospice.
- [Film Director] And when he passed away, I felt this feeling of like sadness, a little bit of happiness.
That's maybe not the best word to use but happiness that he didn't have to endure a life that was just gonna get worse and worse.
There's nothing that you or I or even the doctors could do to make.
- [Mom] I know, but it's just, the memories are so intense.
I yearn for his voice.
And even though he didn't have a lot of quality of life, just knowing he was in the house was enough for me.
And I don't have that.
38 years of good memories, sad memories, and you know, rough memories.
But, we did the best with what we had and you know, he died with you holding his head and me like I promised it, so I know I did the best I could as a wife.
- [Film Director] Yeah.
- [Mom] That's the sad part about this pandemic that all these people, fathers, grandfathers, mothers they die with the nurses, but they're not family.
And I'm so grateful and blessed that I had that.
So on May 24th, even though it devastated my life, I still find comfort that at least I said my goodbyes, and he was here with me till the end.
(angelic music plays) - I'm one of the luckiest guys to have a woman Okay, I am, don't be jealous guys.
To have a beautiful woman at heart.
She's always been there by my side.
She been a pain in the ass sometimes, but she's my heart.
And she is my rock and I love you forever.
(clock ticking) (piano music plays)
