SANFORD, Fla. -- This has been a very trying week for my wife, Sera King-Frederick, as she has a very large family in Puerto Rico, spread out throughout the commonwealth.
Until two days ago, several hadn't been heard from, including two minor nieces. Most, if not all her extended familiy there are getting the relief aid for the first time in the last 36 hours, especially those in remote mountainous areas.
While you see cars driving freely through Suan Juan, there are areas of the island where houses are eiher flattened or filled with 6 feet or more of water and raw sewage.
The worst thing she says is the stench of dead animals -- horses, cows, pigs, chickens, goats, dogs, cats. There are snakes everywhere.
Sera's mom and her siblings in Lake Mary and others in Sanford, Lake Mary, Orlando and Deltona, are on edge. Her father, Juan King, fought for America in Vietnam (active combat). He received a Bronze Star. He died nearly 20 years ago. Sera and her brother and sister were born and raised in Puerto Rico and even lived for a short time in Mexico before moving to Central Florida.
As Sera has said repeatedly throughout the week amid all the political rancor, during which she has not uttered a single word on social media -- her focus on famly having to fend for themselves for more than a week with tears in her eyes: "We are all Americans."