We are celebrating Dia de los Muertos today by cooking arroz con leche, my abuelito’s favorite treat. My daughters and I will measure the sugar & cinnamon while we think about him and tell stories to remember his smiles and jokes. We miss him so very much. We always will.

Trump lied about the Coronovirus in 2020–we should never forgive him. He knew how deadly this virus was in January or February of 2020 as recorded by Journalist Bob Woodward. He downplayed it all and was unwilling to effectively deal with it. Covid-19 was his greatest failure. Trump told so many lies about this virus during the worst public health crisis of the century.

The No.1 responsibility of government is to protect its citizens. Of the 1.2 million Americans who died, many could have been saved if our government and leaders were better prepared and took global pandemics seriously. Now we have too many empty chairs of loved ones at Thanksgiving, many who should still be here.

This was the biggest night of the year for my husband Mike. This was the day he left work early from Brooklyn to be home to take the kids trick or treats.

After dinner, we didn’t give up. Mike would take the kids in the station wagon and drive them to the spooky houses to get more candy. No one came home until those bags were filled.

The tradition would have continued with his grandkids if not for Covid, but his daughters will always remember those nights.

New York’s handling of Covid nursing home deaths was at the center of a Congressional hearing on September 10th of this year. Now a Republican-led House panel has referred the former N.Y. Governor Cuomo to the U.S. Department of Justice for potential prosecution for allegedly lying about nursing home deaths. Did Cuomo deliberately underreport nursing home deaths by 50% or more? Did he obscure public health data for political gain? Cuomo made dangerous decisions from poor judgement that contributed to thousands of deaths. Did he purposely undercount these losses? While we cannot bring back my brother Johnny and the others we lost, our families deserve accountability and justice.

We deserve the answers to these questions.

Today is yours and Stephani’s birthday. I want to celebrate you Donovan but it’s so hard too. Stephani is now older than you. You should be here babyboy. There are so many happy memories that just break me. How I wish I could have saved you. Happy heavenly birthday Donovan. Keep watching over us. We love you. f31