Gustavo Arellano: Goodbye, Grandma Arellano, and gracias for your 100 years of love
One by one, we filed into our matriarch's living room in East Los Angeles the morning of July 15. Hand sanitizer outside the door, masks inside. Ten minutes, max.
We came to say goodbye.
Two weeks earlier, Angelita Arellano Perez suffered a debilitating stroke that left her hospitalized. Now, she came home to die.
Grandma lay in a bed. A machine pumped oxygen into her nose. Her eyes were closed. In Spanish, I told her how much we all loved her. How we were all proud of her. How my dad, her youngest son, was on his way. How thankful we were for her 100 years of love toward everyone. How Grandma's example of charity, simple living and rancho smarts would inspire her eight children, 32 grandchildren, 70 great-grandchildren, and 21 great-great grandchildren for the rest of our lives.
She moved as I spoke, straining to acknowledge my gratitude. Descanse, abuelita, I told her. Rest.
When Angelita Arellano, , who died all too young at 67, stricken with ovarian cancer. The second was blessed with a long life.
