SILVIA HERRERA
Boca Raton

With husband gone, mother wonders how family will survive

Silvia Herrera kneels at her husband’s grave in Deerfield Beach Memorial Cemetery and lets out a sob. The tears come next, streaming down her face.
She looks down and caresses the blades of grass. “Maico, why did you leave me? Your daughters need you.”
Maico and Silvia met 15 years ago, when Silvia worked in a tomato-packing company in Boca Raton.
He liked her, she said, from the first day he laid eyes on her. She found him annoying. But he was persistent, and three months later, they were a couple.
“He was very sweet,” Silvia said.
Another three months passed, and Maico asked Silvia to move with him to Indiana.
“No,” she responded. “If you want, we can get married, but just like that, I won’t leave.”
So he proposed the next day, and they traveled to Miami to marry.
Jenifer, now 14, arrived a year later, and then Gabriela, now 8.
“Sometimes, we would have monetary problems, but we were happy,” Silvia said. “The four of us were really happy.”
For the 15 years they were together, Maico worked hard to give his family everything he didn’t have when he was growing up. He bought a mobile home in Boca Raton, took his wife on short trips to celebrate their anniversaries, and made sure his daughters had all they wanted and needed, from dolls to a computer to do homework.
On Aug. 28, Maico woke up early to take his daughters to school. At 7:14 a.m. he called Silvia to let her know that he had dropped them off and was on his way to pick up some friends who needed a ride.
“I love you very much,” he said before hanging up.
At 8:04 a.m. he called again. He was short of breath.
“Chevy, I don’t feel well,” he told Silvia.
He told her where he was, and then she asked, “Are you OK?” He never answered.
Maico had been in an automobile accident. When Silvia arrived at the scene, her husband was still in his car.
Now, she says, “I still can’t believe that he is dead. I wait for him (every night), and he doesn’t come home, and he is not coming home.”
She is still waiting to hear from the medical examiner to know whether Maico died from the accident or heart failure. Her daughters are still waiting for daddy to come home to dinner. Gabriela sets up the table every night and saves a spot for her dad. Jenifer has lost her appetite.
Silvia fears she won’t be able to make enough money to keep her home and provide for her daughters. She is going to night school to improve her English, and is learning how the housekeeping business works through a friend. But there were bills to pay and Christmas presents to buy, and depression has taken a toll on her strength.
“Every day, I thank God for giving me the strength to see my daughters grow up,” Silvia said. “Even though their father is not here, I am here.”

The Herreras’ wishes

What she asked for: Money to pay funeral bills and the mortgage, and to give Gabriela a traditional quinceanera, a 15th-birthday party, which Dad had promised. Silvia wanted to give her girls a bedroom set, a trip to Disney, iPods, bicycles and a goldfish.

What she received: So far, enough cash to pay six months of her mortgage, plus funeral expenses. Toys came from Farmworker Coordinating Council toy drives.

What she said: “She is very appreciative of all the support, and it has helped her to get past the devastation of losing her husband,” said Manuel Allende, executive director.

Nominated by: Farmworker Coordinating Council
Address: 1010 Tenth Ave. North Suite #1, Lake Worth, FL 33460
Phone: (561) 533-7227
Its mission: To promote self-sufficiency and improve the quality of life to immigrant and seasonal farm workers.