Update on Mirna

An update on Mirna and the funeral: A mass and a funeral was held on Friday for Mirna, the 30-year-old mother who is an ex-pequena and has 2 daughters who now live here on the ranch. She died of ovarian cancer. The past few weeks were really hard for her. I have seen firsthand the medical resources that are lacking in "third world countries". In the United States there is no way that a woman this young would die. As I said, the past few weeks were really hard. She stopped eating completely about a week ago. The only medication/medical care she was receiving was morphine pills (which for the last 3 days of her life they couldn't administer because she couldn't swallow the pills). It is really sad. The culture of Honduras conducted a wake of the body on Thursday night (about 3 hours after she died). There was a mass on Friday morning and then we all walked to the cemetery to bury her. Her extended family came to the ranch, including three of her sisters. Mirna had a husband, but he left her when he found out she had cancer. Then she had a boyfriend, but the doctors wouldn't allow him to see her (I guess something bad happened, but no one knows exactly what). Cynthia and Paola were at the mass and funeral. Cynthia (the older sister) seemed to take it harder than Paola, at least on the outside. Cynthia has had to do some quick growing up, as she did a lot of the care taking of her mother once she became sick. Really it is a blessing that the girls are so young I think. They also have a lot of support and empathy here on the ranch, as many of the other pequenos have lost one of both of their parents. I'm sure they will both continue to live on the ranch. Thanks to everyone for their concern and sympathy.