Magaly fired back: “So we’re just dumping them in Puerto Rico?”
No, you didn't DUMP them! You are letting them end their lives with dignity. I hope your children do the same for you one day.
13
And what did Donald Trump do? Threw out a roll of paper towels into the Puerto Rican crowd.
Disgusting.
14
It is shameful that US citizens in Puerto Rico are still suffering from the aftermath of the hurricane devastation. Fix the infrastructure FIRST before the damn border wall.
21
As of our most famous song says, "pero un dia volvere... a buscar mi querer a sonar otra vez..... No Puerto Rican wants to die away from his homeland. Aqui, con el carazon en llanto, que Dios los bendiga.
12
I understand too well the longing to go back to one’s own home regardless of the devastation in PR. I had my mom stay with me for about 3 months. At 92 years old and with numerous chronic conditions, diabetes being one of them, health care is vital. During her stay with us I had to take her to emergency rooms and walk in clinics at least 4 times. The lack of familiarity with her medical history and overly cautious physicians prescribed, in one case, a brain scan for what ultimately was viral conjunctivitis. I felt it would be hard to replace the medical monitoring and care she enjoyed in PR before Maria. She went back to to her house in PR early December. By that time, Hospital del Maestro was open and seeing patients. During her regular check ups a tumor was found in her bladder. Since, she’s had surgery and the subsequent chemo treatment. She’s also scheduled for cataract surgery. Medical care was and will be an issue for my mom, fortunately, in her case it has continued to provide for her in PR.
11
I can understand the desire to die in one's homeland and not in a bleak northern city where friends and neighbors are few and far between.
14
These are our fellow Americans and the way the government has dealt with the Puerto Rican crisis is our national shame. It's not just that there are Still Puerto Ricans without power...it's that they have been without power for SIX months. Rebuilding the essential services in Puerto Rico should be our number one priority. I can't tell if Trump is just being racist, or geographically ignorant and is not aware that Puerto Rico is a United States territory (as in....we are responsible for what goes on there).
25
Terrific story.
7
Puerto Rico is the clear case of "taxation without representation". Republicans do their best to keep the brown folks with no voice and no rights.
13
Enrique, Emma and Carmen (continued)
The house built by Enrique undoubtedly met no code standards and may not even be a registered property. As such there is no insurance and FEMA is not likely to respond without property/ownership documentation. Carmen, seems to be working off the books on both her salon and hospitality businesses ,which are understandably slow and discouraging in the aftermath. Finally, what is the son-in-law's daily routine beyond watching the rats?
This may seem cruel and it certainly is unfortunate, but it is Puerto Rico-- not Houston!
8
Emma and Enrique personify the boundless grace of Puerto Rico. It's more than a shame that the current administration has left this vital American community to fend for itself, paying its way to an endless recovery with the blood and spirit of its people.
13
Sad, so sad!!!
Not enough is being done.
More help is needed.
2
After reading the headline, I expected the article to contain something about why the homecoming was not what they expected. But, in fact, it sounds like it was exactly what they expected.
13
It is home. Like many Filipinos who go to other wealthy countries, some of them return, even just to die, because it is home.
9
The son did not do this for his parents. He used Enrique's plea to return to MAKE LIFE EASIER FOR HIMSELF. He dumped them in conditions that will only accelerate their demise. If he had made alternate arrangements for them in Puerto Rico, I could empathize. This is elder abuse.
3
As soon as I read the part about the couple having to use wheelchairs at the airport, I thought it wasn’t going to end well, but who’s to say what is best here? Walk a mile in anyone else’s shoes, and you might find you feel the same way they did...home is home, and any difficulty experienced upon return to it may be worth it.
9
Did I read this article wrong? First, there was mention of a passport. Puerto Ricans don't need passports since they are American citizens. Then this article referred to PR as the motherland. Puerto Rico is not a country. So is this couple Puerto Rican or are they immigrants living in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico has a lot of immigrants from the Dominican Republic and other countries. And then the article states that Puerto Rico has a population that is mostly over 60 than any other country in Latin America. First, Puerto Rico is not in Latin America, it is in the Caribbean and the only similarity it shares with Latin America might be the language. But the Spanish Puerto Ricans speak is that of the Canary Islands, Spain. Moreover, the reason why many residents are over 60 is because the young and professionals have moved to the mainland for better work opportunities. That includes doctors who are got fed up with insurance companies taking months to pay them since PR is not a state and not subject to regulations in the mainland.
20
They probably need the passports for identification. Given their ages and health issues, I assume Enrique and Emma are no longer driving. Thus they wouldn’t have drivers licenses as forms of valid id to get through TSA.
19
Enrique and Emma want to age in place together - with their own dignity & privacy as a couple, surrounded by their own long-time neighbors rather than overwhelmed bureaucrats, in their beloved Puerto Rico home.
In their own way, they likely want their mainlander offspring to just make the most of their own nuclear family lives, instead of feeling obliged to intensively care for them in their twilight years.
God bless Enrique and Emma for still having each other . . . valiantly facing life's literal and figurative storms on their own terms!
May their offspring stay as respectfully strong and as ready as they can be for whatever the future brings to their beloved parents.
43
I am a foreign student and will return home to my parents after I finish my studies. I will not find opportunities in my home country that may be as great as those in the USA, but parents are more important than luxuries.
24
When my Dad would complain that he wanted to move out of his senior residence my Brother and I would just nod, agree that it would be nice and move on to another topic.
He lived in a charming, well run place run by people who genuinely liked him but he still had that need to go to a home that was no longer safe for him. It would have been a nightmare even with help and he did not want to "be a burden" by moving in with any of us.
This is just getting old. It's difficult to adapt to change.
13
It must be difficult for rootless Americans to understand that the trade off between living one’s last years in ones casa is greatly preferable to living and dying in a strange land, or worse yet, in a hospital. We have medicalized and dehumanized old age and death, to our enormous detriment. When I reach that point and age I want to spend those last years in the comfort of my home in rural Puerto Rico, under the great mango tree listening to the coquis, with barrilito y agua de coco, a good cigar and some of my children and grandchildren. And I will look at the end of my life with certainly some fear, but not alone or in an unfamiliar place, but rather in the place where 5 generations of my family have lived and grown, with familiar, and filled with meaning, sights, smells and sounds...
89
Something's missing. The children, some of them at least, wanted their parents to stay in NY but it seems none of them had the capacity to host them since the couple ended up in a hotel. But the hotel was only temporary so what was the plan if they did stay?
I can see the couple's perspective even though they didn't articulate it.. it's one thing to live in a home where there's family and life. But if you're at the end of your years and the choice is a lonely sterile room.. or home, I would have chosen home too.
42
I agree. Something doesn't seem right. Why didn't they live with these relatives in New York who wanted them to stay? Why were they living in a hotel room? Something's missing here.
15
It was clear that the children had limited space. My guess is that costs in NYC are too high to easily move.
19
I truly hope there is a second installment of this family's story. You've gracefully communicated the conflicting realities and perspectives.
47
Such a sad, sad, story ... but not because it's about Puerto Rico. It's because so many of us boomer-age adults are doing our very best to deal with our parents and their terrible health problems, but they don't understand we're helping them and they can't go back to the way they used to live. Worst of all is when the parents need constant help, but siblings disagree on the best course of action. Enrique and Emma won't get better--they will continue to get worse. It's a nightmare for their children as well as for them.
47
Enrique and Emma seem to have a large family and attentive neighbors in Puerto Rico and a son-in-law who lives with them and is willing to let them have the more accessible ground floor apartment. They seem fairly well situated and I applaud their son for bringing them home. Too many children shove unwilling parents into nursing homes instead of really exploring more humane alternatives.
27
Poignant. Thank you for sharing this.
31
a lovely touching story
what I felt looking at the photos - in NYC hotel he would have felt - no people - nothing for me here.
greeted on arrival back in PR they were all happy smiles and the village came out to greet them
so - money may give us more stuff - but people make us happy.
56
An elderly couple with severe medical problems should not have gone back, their daughter was right. I sympathize, and even empathize because I've been in a similar situation after Superstorm Sandy, but an older woman with Alzheimer's disease trying to care for a man recovering (badly) from a stroke, is INSANE.
As the article points out, a simple mistake of forgetting to turn off a faucet left them w/o water for DAYS, and considerative of the fact that her disease quickly degenerates, why on earth would their son have "dumped them in Puerto Rico", regardless of how much they wanted to go back?
Neither one is cognitively functional enough to care for THEMSELVES, or each other! A stroke survivor with brain hemorrhage that can walk is already rare, climbing those steps is a recipe for DEATH, obviously a serious worry!
Too many of the elderly don't like change, and don't want to give up their independence, even when they are a major danger, like the water faucet issue. She forgot. Next she may leave the stove on. Husband had a stroke, leaving him cognitively impaired, anxious, off balance, with his own memory issues.
If they were MY parents, I wouldn't have let them leave unless I had gone to their house MYSELF, repaired it, moved them downstairs before they got back, for safety, made sure the utilities were stable, and hired a caretaker. Both are incompetent, so, w/o a caretaker they may not live much longer on the island. I wish them well, but I feel it's insanity.
77
If they were MY parents, I would have honored their wishes. I, too, live a long way from home. I can understand why they wanted to return.
41
When someone is compromised, because of a physical or mental problem, their "wishes" may not be the best course of action for them. I would never have allowed them to return to certainly more hardships and decline.
27
Emma and Enrique can't take care of themselves, let alone each other. Now they have moved back to a place where even the young and healthy struggle to survive. I do not know how they will make it. This type of story breaks my heart. I remember a somewhat similar story from post-Harvey Houston where a man put his ailing elderly mother (who had recently had a stroke and been released from the hospital) on a rescue boat alone because there was only room for one. She fell out of the boat and was facedown in the water for some time before the captain pulled her back into the boat. She was later found dead at a gas station. Very sad. I can't begin to imagine how her son is holding up.
7
This is a wonderful article. I happen to know Aguadilla and western Puerto Rico quite well. The story of Enrique and Emma is a tribute to Puerto Ricans everywhere, and how lucky the rest of us Americans are that history has thrown us together.
28
I agree. My husband and I lived in PR in the 70s when we were young and carefree. Loved it. I have a soft place in my heart for PR and its people.
6
Samantha Bee has done a great series on the problems of Puerto Rico this week. I strongly recommend that everyone pay attention. Out of sight should not be out of mind.
Meanwhile, vote, people, vote!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O65yGOXLlE0&index=7&list=PLur87n...
48
Better to die at home than in a hotel in Queens. Life in PR was not easy before the storm, and is not easy after the storm. Homecoming has greater meaning for islanders than it does others, I have found.
70
Like Odysseus, they've made it home. God bless them.
35
Truely a multi faceted dilemma- however I would never want to put my children in this position.
I understand the desire to be “home”, but at a certain point Mom and Dad don’t understand what is actually best for their well-being and the hardship they’ve imposed on their children as a result seems dangerous and irresponsible for all parties involved. Especially since I’m sure the kids are footing the bill.
I wish them all happiness and hope Puerto Rico can recover from this - it sounds like there is still and incredible amount of work to do.
21
I've worked with elders for most of my career. In the profession of Social Work we have a code of ethics that calls us to respect the autonomy of our clients with exceptions only for incapacity -severe mental illness or dementia. Since the father has neither his desires are paramount. The anxiety of the children is truly unfortunate but does not "trump" the decision of the elder.
62
Ditto, Sue! I worked as a social worker with elders for many years; they absolutely did the right thing.
16
Glad to know this and I strongly agree. The tendency of adult children to infantalize their elders is revolting.
5
The elderly and sick always want to be home no matter the hardship there may be there. The children are gifting their parents that choice. May God bless all of them.
94
Nice story, the hurricane is kind of the back story here. I think they should have stayed in NYC but they do have a support system on the island. There’s no place like home and it’s not unusual for folks to spend their last days in it.
18
These two extremely frail adults need a 24/7 caregiver. Does Puerto Rico offer in home caregiving assistance to the elderly under the Medicaid program. My mom had Alzheimers. It gets progressively worse, and its course is unpredictable. If the faucet was left on, there's a good chance the stove will be left on and they'll have a fire.
33
As far as I know, Medicaid will not cover a 24/7 caregiver. Families have to pay for it, and most families do not have the means, even with children contributing from the US. An alternative is a nursing home, but those are equally expensive. And the eldeers will resist to leave their homes in the same way it happened in this story. The story of Emma and Enrique repeats itself a thousand times in Puerto Rico. Elders are left to fend for themselves, and accidents, sometimes fatal, happen frequently. It is a dire and heartbreaking situation where often people at both ends find themselves powerless.
24
Hi-I am a visiting nurse for a Medicaid Managed Long Term Care plan in NYC. Yes, we have placed live in home attendants for people in need of that level of care. If your family qualifies for Medicaid, please call NY Medicaid choice to be evaluated for home care.
1
Not sure that Medicaid will not cover a 24/7 caregiver. At the LEAST someone should look into it.
The lack of rebuilding effort by the US government for PR is shameful. They are Americans who have served our country honorably and deserve better.
143
Where is the part about repair and restoration work not happening?
1
The part about electricity still unreliable and repairs on the dam slowwwly moving forward leaving water shortages. It’s coming up on a year...shameful how Little the US has contributed to its own citizens recovery.
2
Yes. And have you heard in the media Puerto Ricans being honored for serving in the military to defend this country? First, Puerto Ricans were drafted to fight for this country and now they volunteer.
1
Such a beautiful story. May Enrique and Emma find peace back at home.
42
Become a sovereign nation and regain your self-esteem. You'll do better than becoming a state or continuing the way you are living, in a looked down upon colonial territory, with little use for the USA.
9
Puerto Ricans are smart. 4 votes on this issue and the sovereign nation choice garners 2 - 5% max. each time.
The idea is simply a VERY BAD CHOICE.
They are proud americans, (prouder boricuas), and who would give that up?
18
They voted to finally become a state in 2016. Neither the GOP controlled House or Senate has even brought it up.
20
Lack of self-esteem? Puerto Ricans are very proud to be PRs. Most PRs are well-educated and cultured. The media does not represent this side of PR because it doesn't sell. And the reason PR has declined economically is because the US government exploited the island as a military base and corporations exploited it economically and continue do so. And the island is very Americanized since it stopped being a Spanish colony since 1898. Do you demand Texans to become a sovereign country? More Texans than Puerto Ricans want to become an independent country.
5
I hope we will hear more of this story. It isn't over.
51
Yes not all details appeared in this story. My parents have been set up with a caregiver and my Brother in law and nephew, watch over my parents. We installed cameras to monitor them with echo dot viewing them with an I-cam app. My decision was not the easiest. This was my respect for both my parents decision. Throughout this ordeal I learned just how difficult a choice one has to make. My parent’s free will to decide gave me my answer to this tough decision. Thanks to all who read this article.
84
Thank you so much for sharing this update! I am so glad your parents had the joy of being able to return home!
18
I am afraid the news will not be good, though.
Donald Trump and the Republican Party could not care less about these Americans. The failure to provide meaningful, comprehensive assistance with reconstruction for Puerto Rico is a terrifying indictment of everything that is wrong about the present Oval Office occupation. Plans are made for "trips to Mars" or for major infrastructure projects; a trade deal was negotiated with South Korea in the midst of trade war threats aimed at China -- but it is beyond the capabilities of this Administration to organize normal living conditions on a small island, after 6 months? And what about the (even smaller) Virgin Islands? Viewed in the context of hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, and Harvey, the abject failure to rebuild and relaunch Puerto Rico eclipses all prior failures. And what does this tell us about America's preparedness, in this age of Trump & Excess, for the aftermath of any serious future disasters? If, God forbid, any should strike again?
128
The Commonwealth of PR is bankrupt and needs to work on fiscal affairs. Hurricane Maria inflicted enormous damage to the island destroying its infrastructure. A plan for reconstruction must be designed to propel PR. Congress is aware the economic and political system of the Commonwealth or PR has COLLAPSED.
11
I'm starting to believe that the real showrunners in Congress want us in PR and the USVI just to die, so they and their vulture cronies can get our stuff like land and houses. Yeah, I know what that sounds like, but it seems to get more real every day.
1
I understand why they wanted to go home. Sometimes the only choice left is to chose where to die... if you are fortunate enough to have that choice. I'm glad they did and good for their loving family to help them even though the family wanted to keep them "safe".
93
Wow, what a beautiful and poignant story. I know the feeling of wanting to be home no matter what the situation is. But still it is hard to go back to a place that still needs so much aid and love. I wish them all the best.
42
A beautiful and moving story. May Enrique and Emma be well and at peace in their home.
34
Home is where the heart is. Where is the heart that surfaced for Katrina and Austin? The PR debt seems to be the paramount issue rather than spending enough to rebuild PR for its citizens asap.
20
Puerto Rico, it’s time to get some respect. Become a state.
Puerto Rico has more people living there, even now after Maria, than 21 states in the Union. It’s population is greater than those of North Dakota, Alaska, Vermont, and Wyoming—combined. Yet Puerto Rico has no voice in Washington, at least none that matters.
The process is pretty straightforward (see Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution). The first step is to write a constitution and vote for statehood. Take your petition for statehood to Congress. If a majority of both houses agree and the president signs the legislation, then you are a state with voting members in Congress.
Of course, this will not happen until 2021 at the earliest. But if there are Democratic majorities in Congress and a Democratic president, why not?
It’s a legitimate, legal, and democratic answer to gerrymandering by the GOP. And it sets an example for the District of Columbia.
40
"The first step is to write a constitution and vote for statehood"
and there is the rub. Constitution - Check
Vote for Statehood - they are now 0 for 4.
(The last vote was overwhelmingly yes - with the "no" vote boycotted)
Democracy at work. Half the population are nationalist, afraid of "losing" their language, culture, etc. Nothing wrong with that, just that in my opinion, it is fear based. I argue until I am blue in the face about the benefits of having a voice, but ....
But now with the hurricane, the tide might be on the side of a majority for statehood.
and for those unknowing. The Statehood votes include the 3rd option of independence, which garnishes about 2 - 4%.
For the last 25 years, the puerto ricans have made there choice, SO STOP with the USA bashing.
Ball is still in their court.
20
The fate of Puerto Rico is in the hands of the US Congress not in the hands of Puerto Ricans. Even if they voted yes, if Congress says no, the status quo will remain.
13
They actually DID finally vote for statehood in 2016. The GOP controlled House and Senate have not brought it up, and Ricans (I am one) are too busy trying to: Not die. Not be robbed, looters are everywhere. To rebuild with very little help from their own country that is SUPPOSED TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM. Statehood isn't even on the priority list at the moment.
People are suffering and dying there from malnutrition, exposure to toxic materials, contaminated food and water, no power to more than 60% of the island, no sewage or sanitation, lack of access to functional hospitals and pharmacies, no access to senior care or nursing homes on most of the island due to near constant rolling power outages, along with an exponentially rising suicide rate.
As Trump and company do nothing.
28
Really beautiful journalism, telling the world a much needed story of the lives of people that were, and are still, impacted by the hurricane. Thank you, NYT, for spreading the word about a catastrophe that many mainlanders are moving on from far too soon.
68
Various aspects of this story will resonate will various readers. As an adult who is now the caretaker to a frail, ill, mother with significant memory loss, I cannot fathom the mindset and emotions of the three children who must live with the ongoing stress and fear for their parents' wellbeing, so far away from New York.
45
But at least they finally got home, which is all that matters. Life is a journey and all that needs to be said.
23
Wonderful yet sad story. Thanks for the chronical.
17
Oops, my bad. Meant "chronicle".
4
My heart goes out to the people of Puerto Rico who have essentially been abandoned by the President and GOP.
I hope all those who want to settle on the Mainland come here, settle and Vote where your vote counts.
116
Or better yet, become the 51st State of the Union and the vote will count with stronger repercussions...
73
Such a heartbreaking story.
48