Far from his home and family in the Dominican Republic, M'ximo Cid Ortiz has been in Washington, an outpatient at the NIH and is now dying of a bone marrow disease with only weeks to live, in his words, "ready to set sail."
He couldn't go home so his family came to him and his eldest daughter, a 14 year old pianist, performed a special concert to a packed hall, including a piece she composed in honor of her father, "Mi Alma" (My Soul). All because one friend Grace Rivera-Owen said, "That's something I could do." It was Music to a Father's Ears.
At night's end, friends and strangers approached Cid Ortiz. Many didn't know what to say.
"I can't describe the amount of gratitude I have," he said again and again.
His wife wiped drops of blood that dripped from his nose, tucking the stained tissues into a plastic wine cup as Cid Ortiz made his way out of the hall.
Cid Ortiz donned his surgical mask, stepped outside and boarded a waiting car. He returned to the hospital with Castillo and the girls, who have decided to stay by his side until he's ready to set sail.