REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The last time I saw my son was the morning of Valentine’s Day 2018. Joaquin looked fabulous as usual, holding a bouquet to give later that day to his girlfriend, Victoria. I took him to school, and we chatted along the way. A few hours later, he was shot and killed by a deranged mass shooter inside his school in Parkland, Florida.
A little more than a year later, in 2019, I met Joe Biden in Fort Lauderdale during a public event. That day he told us that “life is about finding a purpose, and once you find that purpose, you will be able to overcome anything.”
That message meant a lot to me and my family. We began to feel a special connection to this father, who knew the pain of losing a son and could still find purpose in life and even run for president.