When seriously ill patients in one Mexico City, Mexico, hospital reach an important life milestone, nurses help them celebrate—with a party! Most patients here have serious diseases. Some can’t leave to have their own celebrations. For others, finances don’t allow for so much fun. So staff and volunteers commemorate these teens’ coming-of-age.
In Mexico, quinceañera or “fifteenth birthday” is an important milestone for adolescent girls. The occasion marks the transition from childhood to adult.
Recently, a stylist helped Alexa Flores López put the finishing touches on an updo for her thick, black hair. Alexa was preparing for a quinceañera at Federico Gómez Children’s Hospital in Mexico City.
“She got super excited, like her heart would come out!” says her mother, Carmen López Díaz. “She was just counting down the days.”
After financing expensive treatments, some families can’t afford traditional quinceañera parties. The hospital provides another option.
Hospital workers started throwing quinceañeras in 2017 when nurses planned a big celebration for a beloved patient. The party became an annual event. Volunteers scurry to ready celebrants by styling hair, applying makeup, and adjusting bow ties.
“The hospital handles everything,” says Díaz.
Alexa has been a patient at the hospital for three years. She’s receiving treatment for lupus. Her younger sister was diagnosed with the same disease last year. The double diagnosis has stretched finances for the Díaz family. A quinceañera would have been impossible without the hospital’s help.
Francesca Solórzano has volunteered at Federico Gómez for 17 years. She assisted Alexa on the big day. Solórzano made sure the teen had enough water and that the navy blue gown sprinkled with sequins remained crisp.
Boys celebrate as well. (The male equivalent is called a quinceañero.) Carlos Emilio Escalona García has been a patient at the hospital for 13 years. He has had heart problems since he was a child and just underwent his fourth surgery. His mother says he tires often but still wants to make the most of every day.
For his mother, Marta Magdalena García Chávez, the day is joy-filled. “He just had surgery, so we wouldn’t have had the possibility to have a party,” she says.
As early as January, the hospital begins asking vendors to participate in the late-summer event. Contributions make the party free of charge for patients’ families.
“I receive more than I give,” Alexa’s helper, Solórzano, says about volunteering. “I give my time here, and I get a lot of blessings in return.”
As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. — Matthew 25:40
Why? Caring for others is one way to honor God by showing mercy and kindness to His image-bearers.
