Remembering you today, a lady full of life, grace and style and who impressed upon me the passion to love,  laugh, and stand up for what I believe and especially for those whom I love.   

Love Kissy

I'm not sure how hard this will be to write. There are so many memories I have of you. You lived such a RICH life. Full of Love and happiness. You had so many chapters to your life.  Life before the first Frank. Life with the second Frank. Life Before mom, life before Kiz. And then we came. Nicky and Dee Dee.  I know we'll remember you so different from the "Atita" Keona and Lorenzo will remember you as. Keona described you lovingly as her playmate. How wonderful was that. I think that's how my kids will remember mom.  To us you and Grandpa were the BEST REAL Grandparents a child could ever know. Our summers with you guys, I don't remember how long the visits were or how often we went, but they were amazing.

We were in NEW YORK  CITY! :)  Grandpa would go to work SO SO early in the morning. You would wake up and shuffle with your slippers across the wood floor, the only break in sound would be when you got to the door "breaks" where you had to lift your feet up. You'd make us delecious cream of rice and toast with real squares of butter on them.

We'd get ready for the day. Take the cart, go to the store, was it Mulberry's(?), (you'd buy us Garbage Pail Kid Cards) and we'd always stop by the water fountain with the huge fishes and you'd give us pennies to throw in. I remember once a stranger (he could have been a homeless man) asked me about the money in the fountain and I responded and MAN was I in trouble! Lol. Now I know you were just protecting me. You were probably terrified. Ha ha.  Sometimes we would just go to the park.  Sometimes we would sit right by your side or on your lap while you watched telenovelas. We had NO IDEA what they were saying, but they were so Drama Fabulous!

You were so caring.  You fixed Tina's Pjs COUNTLESS amounts of times. Finally you just sewed the "butt part" shut with lace. I'm sure you were glad when I finally stopped asking for you to sew it.  And when we were sick you would put Aqua Florida on a bandana and tie it to our heads. I think that scent gave me MORE of a headache. But it soon became comforting. I remember when we moved into a new house, you would come and say something in spanish and do a dance to get "rid" of the bad spirits.

When Grandpa would get home, sometimes he'd bring us pizza with that white and red string wrapped around the pizza. LOOOVED seeing that!  And of course the mini freezer was always STOCKED full of the ice cream sandwiches and the sundaes with the yellow and red toppings on them from Carvel (which was RIGHT downstairs). 

I remember every night the TV would say it's 8:00 do you know where your child is? And I would think I'm here with you. What I'd give to be back then enjoying those times with you. 

Even while I grew up you were always there. Coming to school events, cooking me the same delecious breakfast when I was in high school. Being a comfort when mom and dad got divorced.  Of course somewhere along the lines at those celebrations, you coined the phrase "This cake has 12 eggs". Dee and I still joke about that, really Grandma TWELEVE EGGS?

When you lived with Kissy, I would call to talk.   And I would say Hello DAHling and you would say Hi  DAHling and giggle. Not sure if it was our "thing", but it was special to me. You ARE special to me. I can only HOPE that I leave the trace of Love and Respect that you have.

Somewhere along the lines you stopped caring about what other people thought and started speaking your mind. The things that came out of your mouth were hilarious!  Mostly you would tell me I was pale and I would say "Gee Thanks Grandma". But 3 weeks ago, you told me I was Skinny. That was the best one yet. ;)

I'm so sorry I wasn't around as much as I should have been during these past years. There's no excuse and I will forever feel like I should have done more. I am glad that you were able to spend time with the kids in June. And I'm glad they brought you smiles and maybe even a laugh or two in your last weeks.  

The ONLY thing I can think of to do now is to Run. You were unable to move for the last few weeks of your life, so I will Run with you in my heart. I will enjoy the beautiful landscapes and look into the sky for you, hoping you are watching over me. I will Run in your honor, in your memory. I love you Grandma.

Atita loves this song. She always used to sing it and do  little dance. That woman can really move. :)

While at the hospital the nuses and stuff were trying to take her down to the m.r.i  and as they were picking Atita up she went, "ayi'? Which in Atit's languge means oww.So then the doctor says, " hi" and i'm all like hahaha inside joke. Then she really says owww and the doctior says sorry. Then Atita goes " Your're not sorry" Classic.......

 One time a long time ago, probably when i was about 6 or 7,  atita, mommy and I were sitting in her room back at the house. Suzie Bear, my grandpa's dog that we were taking care if after he passed,was also in the room. So basically Atita was losing her vision and as Suzie is in the room she asks, "What's that Black Thing?" My mom and I were like ,"Atita that's suzie". And she said ,"ohhhh. It was funny and to this day, we still laugh about it. Ahhhh good times :)