Abu, abue, abuela coca, abuela, Rosalba, Coca. My Grandma, just like me, had so many nicknames. Not because her name was complicated like mine, but because she knew and meant so much to so many people. I doubt there was one person who ever met her whose life wasn’t changed. She was sweet, loving, caring, and above all always smiling. Except when she got mad or ready to defend one of her loved ones haha I could talk about her forever; in fact, I’m quite sure I got that from her! She is probably the most talkative person I ever met, after myself, but I didn’t mind it. Her voice soft and sweet, and she never talked about herself in a self indulging way, her talking could go on for hours but mostly she talked about her dreams, the pride for her family, and her love of life’s smallest but sweetest moments. I remember when she’d come visit us in Paraguay and we’d stay up until 2am talking.

My grandma didn’t tell me stories of princes and princesses or stories full of lessons to be learned. She told me stories of her childhood in Mendoza, stories about my mom and her sisters, and above all stories about a my brother and I younger years. According to her she grew up in a world where going to school was a blessing and something she looked forward to every morning. Where she learned French, she took sewing lessons, and got to excel in all the other subjects. In the afternoons she’d play with her friends by a “magical” creek. I call it magical because this creek had the power to turn things into “gold”. I mean of course she wasn’t crazy and explained how leaving little toys tied up in the creek would cause the minerals in the water to turn it golden color, so it wasn’t gold for a fact, but we both agreed that a creek that turned thing into gold was much more exciting. She talked about the animals and the plants that she enjoyed taking care of, about the arts and crafts she spent hours doing, and about her love for music. When I heard these stories all I could think of is her growing up in a world full of sunshine, butterflies, rainbows, and laughing moments.

The rest of her stories were stories about her favorite people in this world: her children and her grandchildren. I’m not going to recount stories about myself or my mom and her sisters, but I bring this up because what I got out of these stories was that she was one proud grandma full of unconditional love. To her, everything we do, even the smallest accomplishments were worthy of worldwide recognition. She loved us all so much, she’d move heaven and earth to make sure we were happy. That’s why yesterday, to honor her life I spent the day listening to happy music, wearing a smiley face sweater and smiling as much as I could. I know that the last thing she’d want is for me to be hurting. Today I chose to be happy and grateful every time I think of her, because I am the luckiest person not only because I got a chance to meet her but because I was her granddaughter and received her unconditional love.

Grandma I’d like to thank you for the following lessons, which you taught us by example and not lecturing:

• In a world full of war, pain, and loss do what you can to help, but remember that for every evil there’s always a good. Don’t forget to look for  that good, the happy and the wonders we get to live every day, like sunrises and sunsets.
• A smile is the first step to facing a tough situation.
• You don’t have to love everything and everyone you meet, but when you find someone you do, love them unconditionally.
• Always, no matter what, be there for your friends and family, love them, help them, hug them, listen to them, and encourage them to follow their dreams.
• Thanks for my mom, she's just like you, postive, caring, and so so so loving and proud of us. You might be gone but I see you in her everyday and I can only hope I'll be at least half a good a mom as you two are, because that would be even more than enough.
• Finally thanks for our family, crazy emotional, dynamic, and above of full of love.

Thanks Abu! We’ll miss you and love you forever.