Three brothers of Panamanian origin who had not seen each other in two years due to the coronavirus pandemic met again on Thanksgiving, in an emotional surprise that was recorded on video by the family.
It's been a year since the youngest of the three - Mia, 12 - hadn't seen her sister Sofia, 21, and almost two years since she hadn't seen her brother Peter, 19.
The three hadn't been together since. that the pandemic started.
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The parents of these siblings decided to surprise the youngest of the three, who still lives with them, by buying plane tickets so that her older siblings could be with her for Thanksgiving dinner.
"We had planned it a week ago, when we decided to buy their tickets. With the university classes, they would only have time to be here for three days, so we thought about it a lot, especially because of the high price of the tickets and the length of the flight, "Michelle Marie Demas, the mother of the brothers, told NBC News in an email.
"But I told my husband to just make up his mind, we really like Thanksgiving
and it would be the best gift ever for Mia and for all of us, "added Demas.
All members of the family are originally from Panama
.
But Mia and her parents have lived in Oregon for a year, while Sofia and Peter study and live in New York, where they have spent much of the last 20 months under strict confinement measures.
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The year before, they couldn't see each other in person at Thanksgiving dinner
because they
were concerned they might catch COVID-19.
"We had to [see each other on] FaceTime last year. We didn't want to risk flying to New York or bringing them in without a vaccine. We are all fully vaccinated now, so we took the opportunity," the mother explained.
We didn't want to risk flying to New York or bringing them in without a vaccine. "
Michelle Demas mother of mia, sofia and Peter
In the video that Demas shared on Twitter, you can see how Mia's face lights up when she sees first Sofia and then Peter completely surprise the room she was in.
The moment of reunion between Mia (left), Sofia (center) and Peter.
Her parents said that she had been sad in recent days because she believed that this year she was not going to see her siblings either.
"Oh my God, you're going to make me cry ... Peter, Peter ... I thought I was dreaming," Mia said between laughs and screams as the three of them were filled with hugs.