Story from Tina
Tina Morales – Miami, Florida
Lost: Her Father, Joaquin (diagnosed at 55, died at 63)
Joaquin Morales was a Cuban chef who made magic from spices and smoke. ALS silenced his kitchen, then his hands, then his lungs.
Tina, his only daughter, was just starting her medical internship when he got diagnosed. She moved back home, sacrificing her career to care for him. Every dish he used to cook, she learned to prepare — but he could never taste them again. He had to be fed by tube.
One night, during a family party, her father cried silently as he watched everyone eat his signature paella. Tina noticed, walked to him, and whispered, “I’ll make it again when you can eat it in heaven.”
He blinked twice. Yes.
When he passed, Tina held a cooking class in his name, serving his final dish to a room full of strangers, with a note: “This is the flavor of a man who couldn’t speak, but taught love in every bite.”
#MultipleSclerosis #MedullarySpongeKidney #CharcotMarieToothDisease #DuchenneMuscularDystrophy #DownSyndrome #AlzheimersDisease #ParkinsonsDisease #ALSLouGehrigsDisease #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #ComplexRegionalPainSyndrome