When a loved one passes away. Carlota, we miss you!

Yesterday a very special person passed away. My mother in-law Carlota, she was only 52 years young. It hardly seems fair how some people leave this earth way before their time.
Today I would like to honor her, a woman that not only gave birth to my wonderful husband, but who raised 9 kids in total, including her first female grand child.

Carlota is a woman that ever since she turned 17 she has been a mother, early on she stopped working and dedicated herself to raising those kids, she gave them everything she could possibly give them, she kept the house clean, put food on the table, and tried her best to keep them safe. Her children where her life, and her 19 grand kids too. She was always welcoming, her house was always filled not only with her kids and grand kids but with the neighborhood kids as well.

When I first met my husband when he was 18, I remember the first time I went to his house to meet his family, his brother's and sisters where so little, it was a world I had never known, as I grew up being an only child, and I was fascinated by it. There I learned for the first time to cook sancocho and to eat arroz con habichuela y tuna. When my husband and I lost our home to a hurricane just a month after we got married, we stayed at his house for a couple of weeks, and I remember feeling welcome in the house, soon I felt like one of the girls, even asking to be added to the chore list of the house. My husband's sisters were thrilled that I was willing to take one day of washing dishes from their chores. For a while I felt as if I was really part of this immense family, of brother's and sisters, and it felt good. I remember going on shopping sprees for school supplies, sneakers, socks etc. and how hard it was to make everyone happy within the budget. They were all spoiled with having only the name brands and it was because Carlota has always loved them so much that she wanted them to have the best that she could afford. I know she was a good mother to all these kids, and her heart suffered every time anything would happen to any of them, and she even took on the care of her oldest granddaughter when her parents couldn't.

Growing up with my husband, I always felt like I had to fill some pretty big shoes as Carlota was the ruler from which all my actions were measured. (I'm not sure if that sentence makes sense in English as I am translating from Spanish, but in essence I mean that I felt like I could never measure up to her, like she was this ideal to my husband that I could never fill.) She always had the house clean, she loved decorating, and cooking, and I was none of those things. But I must say I tried, and I still try to be like her in some way, but sometimes we just can't change who we really are. I really admire how she raised so many children and kept her sanity. I commend her for that. I do my best with my two daughters and I don't know if I would have been able to do as good a job as her if I had 8 kids.

When Gaby, my first daughter was still a toddler, Carlota got cervical cancer, and we took her to live with us in NYC from PR so she could get better treatment. I would take her to get her check ups, her chemotherapy, her radiation, I would take care of her, and we grew close. After the chemotherapy she got neuropathy on her legs and I would give her massages, and take her to all her appointments. I was so glad that she was able to recover from that. I really think that when we took her in, we extended her life for about 9 more years. In PR she wouldn't have gotten the treatment that she was able to receive in NY. I'm glad that I was able to get to know her better, and I'm glad that my daughters got to know her too. Especially Gaby, since she grew up with her as well.

Carlota, I want to say Thank you for raising an awesome man that it is my husband, thank you for being so nice to me, thank you for being a good mother, and grandmother, and woman. You will always live in our hearts. May God keep you in his Glory. Amen.