‘We carry a little bit of you in ourselves’

‘We carry a little bit of you in ourselves’

By Nicole Buensuceso

To her very last days, Grandma remained independent, vibrant, tenacious, courageous, faithful, generous, loving and strong in spirit even when her physical body began to fail her. – and these are the traits about her I find myself hearing over and over again as we all share memories about Grandma, and although our hearts are truly heavy and our loss is great, I know that she lives on, not only in memory but in each one of us. My mom told me that Grandma was always worried, concerned about leaving a legacy to her children – and I hope you hear me when I say this Grandma, but you have nothing to worry about. You have left more than a legacy behind, not only for your children, but for your grandchildren and great grandchildren.

You have inspired and touched us all in many ways that not only your memory will live on in us, but you have had so much influence and impact on each of our characters that everyone of us carries a little bit of you in ourselves; whether it is our strong will and refusal to go without a fight for what we believe, the importance of being independent and capable of standing on our own two feet, our survivalist instincts, our love for music, travel, news, history, culture and dance, our sense of style and the poise in which we carry ourselves. We can thank you for all of that.

“to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from.”
– T.S. Eliot

May we learn from you, as we always have, and recognize your life’s end is just the beginning.

To everyone here tonight, thank you for being here. For standing by us through our struggle, our awkwardness, our silence, our sadness & grief…and we thank you also, for smiling with us, laughing with us, praying with us…in remembering and celebrating the PERSON who Angeles was – the foundation she built, and the legacy she leaves behind.