It’s difficult to lose your parents at a very young age.
But it can be much more difficult for the sibling who had to fill their shoes. Whether they like it or not, this sibling would have to find a way to mature faster than her peers, and they cannot fail because a lot is on the line.
20-year-old Samantha Rodriguez experienced this firsthand. Her grief was cut short because she had to pull herself up for her siblings.
The Rodriguez kids lost both their parents to cancer.
They lost their mom to cervical cancer then three years after that, they lost their father to lymphoma.
Samantha, being the eldest of five, had to assume the responsibility of being the sole caregiver for the family. It wouldn’t be easy as she has to raise a child as young as five years old to as old as 16.
While they were receiving help from their grandmother, Samantha bore the brunt of everything. She worked as a server in Disney Springs in Disney World. This is on top of sibling-related errands like getting them to school and appointments, running errands, or buying groceries.
At that point, Samantha practically stopped living any part of her life that focused on her.
Thankfully, however, not everyone was blind to their plight. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office invited Samantha and her siblings to their aviation hangar for a tour.
It was actually a surprise when the siblings received lots of gifts and love from the community. It also opened their story to the world.
The Facebook post became viral.
People started asking in the comments section for a bank account, a GoFundMe page, or any avenue to extend financial assistance.
It would culminate when members of the community pitched in to provide the family with an important thing that they could use daily.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office gave them another surprise.
Through the help of various donors, they gifted Samantha a brand new Nissan Versa. Samantha’s reaction was recorded in a video posted by the department.
“You don’t know how much this means to us, it’s such a big help. You know, doing everything on my own is very hard, but I’m so glad to have people like you guys in my life.” She can be heard saying.
For them, it wasn’t just a car.
For Samantha and her siblings, the car opened more opportunities for them. She shared that she had major difficulties going from one place to another as someone who had to be everywhere all at the same time for her siblings.
The car gave her a chance to do more with her time. She also said that the most valuable thing the car gave her family was quality time.
She said that they can now go to church together like they used to. They could go to the park. And most especially, her siblings can now attend after-school activities because she now has the means to pick them up.
Watch how a community surprised a family with a brand-new car.
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