A mom, Amanda Simpson-Roja, got separated from her two-year-old baby girl when she let her baby, Kaiya, visit extended family with her grandmother. The lockdown has prevented her baby from returning home to Orlando, Florida.
The gut feeling
Amanda's mom, Grace Rojas, went on a month-long trip to Panama to see their extended family, bringing her granddaughter, Kaiya. Amanda said that her cruise ship engineer husband, Alex Rojas, was going to fetch them from the well-planned trip on his way home. The next morning, she had the "gut feeling" that she would not see her baby for a long time when she took Kaiya to the airport.
Scheduled flight home got canceled
Weeks later, COVID-19 spread through the world. On March 16, Alex got stranded off the coast of Miami when the lockdown happened. Kaiya and Alex's scheduled flight home got canceled indefinitely.
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The 37-year-old mom's heart sank, and she could not talk when she heard the news. She was alone at home taking care of her one-year-old daughter, Evie. For the next five months, she pleaded and negotiated with the US and Panamanian authorities to let her daughter come back home.
Rode to Panama
On August 12, Amanda grabbed a last-minute seat, which allowed her to hold her baby's arms again. She rode a humanitarian flight to Panama City. She felt complete after receiving a big hug from Kaiya.
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On August 11, a day before she left home, Amanda received a call from the Panamanian consulate. She got approved for the monthly humanitarian flight to Panama. Amanda was in disbelief because she believes that something would surely go wrong. She quickly enlisted Evie to her close friend, Arin Dale, to look after her baby.
Early the next morning, she flew to Washington D.C., to catch the six-hour flight to Panama City. Amanda felt it was a miracle to have everything fall into its place. For two days, she got quarantined at her hotel.
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While picking up a grocery delivery in the lobby, Amanda suddenly looked up and saw Grace and Kaiya walking in. The two drove seven hours from Grace's hometown of David. Kaiya looked around and was confused at first. Amanda knelt and thought that her daughter did not recognize her.
Then the little girl looked at Amanda, called her "mommy," and touched her face. Late at night on August 14, the trio got home. The next day, friends greeted Amanda, Kaiya, and Evie with welcome home signs, balloons, and a car parade. For Amanda, it was a dream come true to finally be with her daughter after five months.
