Selfless, devoted, compassionate, resilient, and deeply loving are just some of the words I could use to describe the woman we have been blessed to have as a grandmother and mother. I’m not sure how to go about writing all this, but mi abuelita Susana is currently home for hospice care. My mother, brother, and myself have been caring for her round the clock since she came home, and will continue to be by her side until her final moments.

For those that may not know me, my family, or my grandmother, you need to know my grandmother is an incredible woman who has always done all she could for her family. Over 50 years ago she immigrated from Mexico with her two young children (my mother and uncle) after her husband passed away. This is a woman who lived the experience of not knowing the country or the language, finding work and working tirelessly, and somehow making ends meet to make a life for her children. This is a woman who puts everyone before herself, even at her 93 years of age. She’s always been more concerned with making sure we get rest or eat, than making sure she was good and comfortable; all while after all these years maintaining her good spirits, strong faith, fiery personality, and sassy attitude and vivacity. There’s no one else in this life that I know that is as strong and gentle, compassionate and sincere, and giving and loving as my grandmother.

She has had severe aortic stenosis and towards the end of last year we were taking steps to get her to a valve replacement procedure that would have improved her quality of life and reduced the different problems she was experiencing. She was taken to the hospital on January 29th for being unable to breathe, and that turned into a long, stressful, and scary two weeks in the hospital. While at the hospital she suffered a stroke which left her left arm and left leg immobile, later experienced a severe AFib episode that she had to get shocked out of, and was left in a condition where the doctors were no longer comfortable performing the valve replacement procedure. The conversation shifted to home hospice care to make her as comfortable for the remaining time she could have; time that the doctors estimated only to be a few weeks.

Now my family is at a point where we only have a short amount of time left, but we aren’t at a place where we can afford all the end-of-life expenses we will be experiencing. My grandmother’s wish is to be buried, but she had settled with being cremated because of the high costs involved. We want to do our best to give her the burial she desires and deserves instead of settling for what we can afford. We are blessed to have time with her and time to plan, and that’s the only silver lining we have left. Any and all contributions will help, and we can not express enough gratitude or appreciation for all the help we receive. Prayers, positive thoughts and vibes, and all the love we can receive helps so much as well. All money raised will go towards the funeral and services expenses. Thank you.