Isabella Iupe

NEXT: My Dad had many phrases over time that he “coined” or repeated constantly, but the one that sticks out the most is “NEXT”. It started as a way to teach us to move on to the next deal, opportunity, whatever he was talking about. My most vivid memories is when he would be reading the paper, you wouldn’t even realize he was listening until you just heard “NEXT” as he continued to read the paper. I spoke with my dad most days on the way to work and if I was complaining about something that I was making a bigger deal he would just say “NEXT”. He was trying to teach us that not all things are so serious and that a lot of our anxiety was in our own minds - to move onto the NEXT thing. If it was meant for you it would come back, if not then you were on to the next - anything could be translated to that. WE GOT CAUGHT IN THE RAIN: At the height of the pandemic, I was working as Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellow in Miami. The majority of my family were all together in Houston, Texas where I am from. As soon as he could, my Dad came and stayed in Miami - not with me, he didn’t bother me, he just wanted me to know he was close in case I needed him. I had seen so many people die at that point, I was too nervous to see him for a while, but he didn’t complain he just stayed near in case I needed him. I finally went to see him we went to the outside rooftop pool at his hotel - there was no one there just me him and 2 friends across the way. I don’t remember much of the contents of the day until the sky opened up out of no where and it started pouring heavy Caribbean rainstorm. My dad and I just started laughing so hard - I remember him putting his hand on me squeezing my arm as we laughed until we cried then started dancing in the rain. The girls across the way had been watching without us realizing. As they ran inside, one asked “Can I take a polaroid of y’all?”, we said yes and waited in the rain still dancing and laughing until it developed. Both of us were convinced that it was going to be such a cute picture - we were having so much fun, how could the picture not be great? As it develops you can see the biggest smile on our faces, arms around each other laughing but then the whole thing develops you see our Pandemic Bellies from the single worst angle ever. This made us laugh even more and we vowed to keep it but for memories only. That day, laughing with my dad got me through so many more days of the pandemic. After his passing, it remains my favorite picture of us. The littlest moments in life of pure joy carry you through so many bad days - always take the picture, always spend the extra time with your loved ones and always stop to realize the small things people who love you do for you.