September 2007

Who? an unique mix of genes, moments, sorrows, happiness, friendships and relationships.
Why? Brought to this world for a reason… known unknown.
When? This time an space and between times and spaces, my Boss and Father and Mentor has no cultural or time barriers.
What? World transformation
How? Influence

Un segundo, una vida.
De oportunidades perdidas,
De una eternidad por gracia
Una vida bien utilizada.

Un minuto, una razon.
Un movimiento del interior,
Vivir mas que para reunir
Cosas que se quedan aqui­.

Una hora, una llama.
Transmitida entre almas,
En busca de trascendencia,
En Dios, dependencia.

una vida, impacto eterno.
Un resultado revelado.
Sobrepasando lo mundano,
Rayando en lo inimaginado.

Potencial, responsabilidad razon.
Influencia, permanencia, pasion.
Fe, inspiracion, transformacion.
Un huracan catalizador.

My grandma (Abuela Eva) died this past Friday, 21st of September 2007, she was 80 years old. Is an irreparable lost, she was, was, a very happy, sweet and loving person. She had a heart attack Friday morning, and another one at the night. She used to be in the hospital very often, because she was very sick and she suffered from diabetes, high triglycerides and cholesterol, she had no sight in one eye, and ear problems, not of hearing but something related to locating in space and getting dizzy, she had many complications throughout the years, actually she was supposed to be dead, because doctors told her she would die in three years and its been since they said that like eight. So like she said about herself she was a mori-viví, I live in Dominican Republic, and a mori-viví is a small plant that grows anywhere and kids play with it very often, I used to play with it, its small, green on the outside and purple inside, and if you touch it, it apparently dies, but if you leave and come back in a while , its alive again. Its amazing God’s creation, its delightful and amazing, just amazing…

Abuelitaa Eva was my only grandmother, she’s my mom’s mom, my mom’s dad died when I was 8 and she was never quite close to me, emotionally she was very distant, because she didn’t like my mom to be my dad’s wife, that’s another story. Well the point is she was my only grandmother, i was her smallest grandchild, she loved me , actually she loved all her grandchildren, well everyone, she loved so many people, that’s why so many people loved her. Love is a potential feeling, the more you love, the more you’re loved. This was so true on my grandma’s life, she loved so many people, she was so caring and so thoughtful on details. Everyone that went to the funeral said she called them on their birthday, I know she called me all my 20th birthdays, never failing, at 6am, and she would sing a song to you, never a short song, she even had this notebook, where she kept all the birthdays and the phone numbers and she everyday called birthday people. I’ll always remember her singing, she said I got that from her, she used to call me palomita, jejje, how small things you remember.

My grandma lived with my grandfather, another character. He is 82 and he works in a big company as a supervisor of the security, he’s very active and healthy, He was in the military of our country, then he retired, and then after not so long, he began working again. He is a very intelligent old man, he loves math and he loves my grandma too, he used to take her to the hospital all the time she had to go, and he bought her all her medicine, he even went with her to the supermarket, which is not common in my culture, and neither to their generation. He loved her, they had 63 years of marriage, long time, they had more a normal person’s lifetime.

My grandma loved to go out, before she had the ear complication (less than 6 years) she used to take public transportation to see her friends and visit people, of course she always leave food ready for “El viejo”, her husband, she loved hanging out with her friends and visiting people, after she had the ear problem she took taxis, she even had a guy and his son who took her wherever she wanted and let her pay later. This is not common here, taxis don’t let you go without paying, she was so nice with everyone, wow, the used to win people out.

I know she would have loved her funeral, a lot of people went, more than 500 people, thats a lot of people, and all kinds of people, this guy from a colmado, how we call small grocery stores in your neighborhood, went and was crying, he told my mom “I know it hurts you more than me, but it hurts me really bad”, wow she was loved, because she loved. All kinds of people, from different backgrounds, all of them giving testimony of her happy character, and caringness to everyone she knew.

She had a beautiful hair, black, she used to dye her hair, she was always pretty, always, with her lipstick and her hair done, and with some simple necklace, she loved necklaces. She used t wear a red flower in her head, on special times, but thats how I remember, and not only me, but all of the people on the funeral who knew her. So when she was put on the box, my sister Maria thought of the flower, my mom thought of the flower, and Carlina, her first grandchild, brought her two beautiful plastic roses, That was who she was, the lady with the red flower on her hair.

I’m sure she went to heaven, I know I’ll see her again, sooner or later, but yet all through the funeral I was thinking, just 22 days for my birthday, and there will be no call, no song, no Abuela Eva, no more, its gone, not again. Just remains the feeling, just remains the thoughts, the memories, the lived experiences, in my heart and my mind.

What legacy, what I learned from my grandmother, love others, show love to them don’t caring who they are, how they will react, just love and show it. Take care of yourself, be nice, beautiful, clean, smelly, with lipstick on. Share with others what you’ve got, food, clothes, anything. Be thoughtful, be caring….. and whenever I see someone with a red flower on their hear, I’ll remember her, and all the memories… all the love.

The final thing I’ll take with me from her, forever is that to live a life of transcendence I just need to love… purely love.