A father's death, a son's despair: How COVID upended a family

MENIFEE, Calif. — He became a wrestler because his father was a wrestler. He planned to work at the same power plant as his dad when he graduated from high school.

It seemed fitting that they shared the same name: Anthony Michael Reyes.

Then, last summer, COVID-19 swept through the Reyes family. Within weeks, Anthony Sr. was dead.

Anthony Jr. rarely slept. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw his father in a hospital bed. He kept the lights on in his room. He held in his tears so he could console his mother and two sisters.

He had wanted to be his dad his whole life. Now, at 17, he was thrust into the role. If his younger sister wasn't feeling well, he'd stay with her. If his mother had an appointment, he wanted to be there.

Even before his father's death, the teen had written a school paper on the pain of life during the pandemic.

"The whole coronavirus affected me in many ways, and the way the pandemic affected me the most was through my mental state," he