As the current situation with the Coronavirus pandemic continues to surge, families and friends continue to live divided lives. Hope has come in the form of new vaccines and their distribution across the globe, however, the tragedies continue.

Now, a San Diego family, whose patriarchs weren’t able to receive vaccines, is suffering deeply.

Juan and Blanca Rodriguez passed away from COVID this past week within hours of saying their last goodbyes on Zoom.

The middle school sweethearts met in the seventh grade spent decades together as a married couple until passing away at the age of sixty-seven. Juan and Blanca met in the seventh grade, were married five years later, and went onto have four children and six grandchildren.

“He saw my mom in homeroom in seventh grade, and he said from the moment he saw her, he knew he was going to marry her,” the couple’s daughter Cynthia Rodriguez explained in an interview to NBC12. 

This past January, Juan and Blanca were retired and living with one of their children when everyone in the family contracted COVID-19.

Their illnesses came as a surprise to the family particularly because they had been extremely cautious.

“We quarantined. We didn’t go out. We didn’t even go to stores. We would order food delivery,” the couple’s other daughter Blanca Velazquez explained.

While the family eventually recovered, on Feb. 1 Juan and Blanca were rushed to the hospital. The couple was sent to two separate facilities and communicated with their family through Zoom.

Over the weekend, after Juan’s condition continued to worsen his family said virtual goodbyes.

“My mom was on the Zoom call, and she told my dad that she was happy that she was able to share her life with him, and she thanked him for being the love of her life,” explained Velazquez.

Juana and Blanca’s son Juan Rodriguez Jr. revealed on a GoFundMe page set up to help with funeral expenses that not long after Blanca’s call with Juan, the family received a call from Blanca “saying she was not doing well and they had to put her on a ventilator as well. The Dr. called a few hours later and said she didn’t respond to the ventilator and there was nothing else they could do for her.”

Blanca passed away three hours after her call with her family on Feb. 8 at 12:30 a.m. Later, Juan died at 4:18 a.m.

“Losing one parent is bad enough, but losing them both on the same day has been both devastating and heartbreaking. We have peace in knowing that since they were always together in life, they could not be apart in death as well,” Juan Jr. wrote. “He couldn’t live without her, so, he just let go. It’s like an epic love story, that they went together in the same day. They were the best parents,” Velazquez told NBC12.

As of Thursday afternoon, the family’s GoFundMe raised $16,897 toward its $25,000 goal.

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Valentine’s Day is just a few days away, which means that if you’re single, you might be taking a good, hard look at the state of your love life. If, like many of us, you’ve spent the past year focusing on your own growth and self-development, then you might be ready to jump back into the dating pool. 

But if you feel off your game or unsure of how to proceed in this brand new, post-COVID world of dating, fear not! We’ve employed the help of Jorge Lozano H. to give us the do’s and don’ts of finding love in 2021.

Jorge Lozano H. is a best-selling author, speaker, and dating expert who knows exactly how challenging this new dating scene is–but he also knows how fun it can be. Lozano shared his tips and tricks with us on how to attract “the one” in 2021. Check out his advice below!

1. Spend More Time on Dating Apps

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We know, we know. There are about a million-and-one dating apps out there. But it’s a simple fact that you can’t find something if you’re not looking for it. Download one or two dating apps and commit to spending time and effort on finding a viable match (so, no mindless swiping).

If you feel like the sheer number of options is too overwhelming, try out a dating app that narrows down the dating pool by common interests–like Chispa, the dating app specifically made for millenial Latinos. 

2. Confidence is Key

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It’s tempting to approach every date with a pessimistic mindset. Sure, there’s “plenty of fish in the sea,” but there’s also plenty of duds in the sea as well. Lozano suggest looking on the bright side by trying out positive affirmations.

“Go into every virtual date with a positive mindset by repeating these eight words when you need a confidence boost: ‘I want, I can, and I deserve it,'” he says.

3. Build meaningful connections

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Lozano suggests creating “emotional anchors” during your conversation with you date in order to make meaningful, memorable connections. Lozano suggests bonding over common interests like similar tastes in music or the favorite Banderas you have in common.

4. Don’t be a “bad texter”

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Even if a potential partner is head-over-heels for you, that doesn’t give you an excuse to be a bad texter (i.e. giving low-effort, one-word responses). “Elaborate, ask questions and show interest so your potential novio/a will keep you in mind at all times,” says Lozano.

5. Flirt with finesse

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If you’re wondering why none of your matches are graduating to the next step, like a FaceTime date or a virtual date, it might be because you’re not giving them much to work with. “Coquetear adds an extra spice to any conversation,” says Lozano. He suggests using three universally-beloved topics to keep the convo going: food, pets, and (pre-Covid) travel of course.

Now that you’re armed with Lozano’s great advice, you’re ready to take on the 2021 dating scene with renewed confidence. Now head out there and find your soulmate!

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