Life

It is said that the second we are born we start dying.  The older you get the closer you get to death.  Therefore, it makes sense, that as soon as you come out of your mother's womb and you gasp that first breath for life you start aging and getting closer to death.

This morning I had a missed call from my cousin-in-law.  I did not find it strange because she often calls me or leaves me messages early in the morn.  As I was preparing breakfast for the children I got a phone call from another cousin.  I knew something was happening.  I never imagined the words that came out of her mouth into my ear.  My uncle died.  I did not expect those words.  I could not comprehend what she said.  "What, who, where, when, how?!?!"  All of those questions hit me at the same time.  My emotions were going so fast I gasped for air and cried, and cried, and cried.

Last week we lost our last maternal matriarch.  She was the last survivor of my grandmother's siblings.  She was such a vivacious person.  Her stories made you pee your pants (literally).  She told them as if they had happened the night before.  Some scary, some sad, but mostly funny.  She lived and raised her children in the heart of the South Bronx in the 1960's to her dying day.  She was a tough lady.  Had six children, five surviving, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great great grand children.

We did not know her exact age.  She was between 93-98 years old.  Her birth certificate was in a building in Puerto Rico that was ravaged by fire incinerating any records being held there.

She lived a full life.  Her death was imminent and expected.

QUE DESCANSES EN PAZ FAT GRANDMA.

My uncle was 75 and I was not expecting his death so quickly.  He was ill but I did not know how ill.

I am very sad.  I am very sad about the back to back loses my family is experiencing and at the same time I understand this is the natural progression of life.  It does not take away from the fact that I feel like someone punched me in the stomach and I am gasping for air.  And…life goes on.

REST IN PEACE TIO

AlwaysAmiga,

Marilyn