PHOENIX — Every family has its holiday traditions. Many of which include good food, some travel and a lot of time spent with loved ones.
However, one Valley family had to make a difficult choice to turn around after getting all the way to Chicago because of COVID-19.
Every year, John and Cindy Stoewer celebrate the holidays either in Phoenix, New York or Chicago.
"It was devastating, really devastating. We were going to fly in and have a big get-together with everybody and they decided to have the baby baptized because we would all be there Christmas day," they said.
This year would have been all the more special with a new 9-month-old grandbaby, Miles.
"We flew from here in Phoenix with a connection in Dallas, got on a new plane in Dallas and flew to Chicago and when we landed we immediately had a note from our daughter saying 'call me right away,'" they said.
Initially, they thought, it was simply to specify where to get picked up at O'Hare Airport.
"We assumed that she wanted to know where to meet and instead, we found out our daughter-in-law tested positive for COVID," Cindy said.
The bad news hit Cindy like a ton of bricks.
"I held it together, but then after the phone call and about 10 minutes after we got off the plane, I just completely had a meltdown," she said.
They realized not only would they miss out on Christmas with their kids but they would also miss the baptism of their only grandchild.
Soon, another family member also tested positive for the virus. The Stoewers are thankful they're playing it safe and are grateful for kindness and understanding along the way.
"The nice girl at Spirit Airlines helped us get a flight home, our hotel gave us a full refund and even parking at Sky Harbor Airport, which we had prepaid in full. They gave us a full refund and maybe it's all in the spirit of Christmas but we can't say how much we appreciate it because we are devastated."
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