The following entry was written by my niece, Anna Julia Lopez-Riveira. Thank you Ana. I know Abuela is proud!
-Ramon
Some superheroes have capes and others have
masks, but to me the most noble and courageous superheroes have dentures.
Seemingly benign, my Abuela was a fearless crusader, promoting self-confidence,
uniqueness and equality in the younger generation. Her arch-nemeses were self-crAiticism and
loathing. Before she was my Abuela, she
did many amazing things. She gave birth
to seven children in a communist Cuba and sent her two eldest children to the
United States without her. She took care
of her family while fighting back and gaining passage to freedom. In 1966 she followed her two eldest children to
America, speaking only Spanish, bringing along her husband and her extended
family. In America she had two more
children.
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| Abuela with Anna and Daniel |
Abuela worked in a factory by
night and was a superhero by day. Abuela
worked hard to preserve the integrity of her children’s minds so that they may
become independent individuals despite the difficult environment to which they
were exposed. As her children grew, my Abuela
discovered that she had the power to make her children and their friends feel as
though they could defeat any villain they confronted. Realizing her power and in the hopes they
might pass the skills on to the next generation, Abuela made sure that all of
her children went to college so that they would have the tools to recognize and
defeat any villain that came their way
Alas, all superheroes fall;
Abuela was tormented by the ruthless villain, Alzheimer’s Disease. After many years of this torment she passed
away in 2008.
One of her more remarkable battles was saving
me from the villain named self-destruction.
At the age of 6, it was apparent that my mind was taken hostage by a
feeling of self-worthlessness, due to my yet undiscovered nemesis,
Dyslexia. Before the uncovering of my
own villain, Super Abuela came to my rescue and helped me keep him at bay by
helping me with my math homework. When
my archenemy finally came out of hiding and revealed himself as Dyslexia (Dyslexia:
superpower: scrambling letters thus making words unreadable and numbers flip
over), I was sent away to a training camp for other children who were gripped
the villain Dyslexia and his companions ADD and ADHD.
Ashamed at being sent away, I wrote letters to
my Abuela and parents, but only about the recreational aspects of the training
camp, leaving out the practice battles in untangling letters that occurred
daily. My Abuela wrote back kind words and her power was felt through her
letters. She indirectly reminded me that
she had trouble reading and writing in English when she first came to the United
States.
Even though she passed away and her goals seem
not to have been fulfilled, her work will not be forgotten. Through her efforts, she reminded people to
be self-confident, and to find the little things in life that make one
happy. Her battle is continued by her children and
grandchildren. The important lesson
Abuela taught was to be happy with oneself.
