ORMOND BEACH, Fla. — Across the world, millions have lost their life to COVID-19, leaving loved ones behind to pick up the pieces. 


What You Need To Know

  • Sopheavy "Sophia" Meth lost her husband of 10 years to COVID-19 in November

  • Working at her business, Java Junction, she is struggling to get by, but remains determined to make it

  • She has turned down a GoFundMe account, saying she wants to earn her community's business

That is exactly what one Ormond Beach woman is having to do, struggling to keep her business afloat after losing her husband suddenly.

“He didn’t even say goodbye to me,” said Sopheavy Meth, commonly known as "Sophia", while looking at a picture of her late husband of 10 years, Samnang. 

Meth feels the deep pain of losing her husband every day. He died of COVID-19 back in November, after surviving a heart attack just a few years earlier. 

“Because he had a heart condition, it is easy to get it, he was weak, not strong,” said Meth. 

She fights through tears to serve customers at her coffee shop Java Junction.

She opened it three years ago to support her husband’s dream of pursuing a better life for them.

“He wanted to move back to Cambodia to attain his law degree, he wanted to be an attorney, a lawyer,” said Meth. 

He returned here in March at the start of the pandemic to help out and to be with his wife and four year old son, Lincoln.

“We were very careful with it, you know, hand sanitizer or masks, or gloves with him all the time,” said Meth. 

Despite their precautions he ended up catching COVID-19. Sophia said her husband isolated from them and she brought him food daily. She said she thought he was recovering, but he died just two hours after she saw him for the last time. 

“The day he died he looked a lot better, no more symptoms at all," said Meth.  "We were so happy to get him back.”

Now, she runs their shop alone, waking up at 4:30 a.m. to support her parent and her son who now is without a father. She cut back from working seven days a week to six, so she can spend more time with him. 

“I told him, 'Daddy go to heaven now so don’t wait for him anymore son,'” said Meth. 

Meth said she is struggling to pay her bills right now and hopes more customers come in soon. 

“If they can just support my business so it can help us, you know, to survive," she said. 

She described her husband as a giving man, supporting 10 college students in Cambodia. Despite her struggles, Meth plans to complete his legacy by working hard to get the last student through school.

“I have to finish her dream too, so two more years so I still support her,” said Meth. 

Even with the heartache and immense financial pressure, with each cup of coffee, she soldiers on. 

“A lot of people are going through like what I am going through right now too, but I will not give up," said Meth. "Keep going for my son, even if it’s tough. It is hard”

She just hopes to make her husband proud. 

“I will remember him forever, he is always in my heart forever," said Meth. 

Meth said she will tell her son what a great father her husband was and she hopes he is able to achieve his father’s dream and creating a better life. 

Some community members have created a GoFundMe page to support her during this difficult time. However, but while Meth appreciates that, she said she would prefer to earn her community's businesses.