Who Our Role Models Were Growing Up


“My incredibly outstanding grandmother Germanía, my mother’s mother. My grandma was a widow (as she lost the love of her life, my grandfather) with six small children, by age 35. Sadly, two would die before her, including one on Mother’s Day.”

grandma


“Grandma had a very tough life. She had very little education growing up motherless and, basically abandoned, in the slums of Puerto Rico in the 1920s and early 1930s. Yet, she managed to raise her children well with very few resources and no husband. She worked in a factory and was a caregiver to the infirm in order to make ends meet. That was backbreaking work! Later, once her kids were grown, she was able to save enough to buy her own beautiful house. It was big and she earned money renting the apartment and rooms on the third floor! Grandma also became a New York City auxiliary police officer. I remember seeing her in her uniform for the first time. We were very proud of her.”

”She was the consummate cook and her gardens were masterpieces! Grandma was a humanitarian and never turned away those in need. I love her so much and miss her deeply. Sadly she died of cancer at age 59. She left a tremendous impact on my life. She was a warrior woman and forever my hero!”
Cindy Anelante

“My older sister Nancy. She still is.” Darlene Chavez Gonzalez

sister

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