Celebrating in Heaven...

I didn't expect the tears to come in that moment. I have gone to celebrations for Our Lady of Guadalupe since I could walk. And I had seen this particular reenactment of her apparitions to Juan Diego two years before so I knew what to expect. Except I didn't. This was the first time in my life when my grandma won't be here during these celebrations. Now she is in Heaven with Our Lady. She is up there celebrating and rejoicing for La Virgencita who she loved very much. These songs we sang and dances we saw in years past mean so much more now that I have an angel in Heaven.

On December 10, 2012, my grandma was released from the hospital. She came back to my house, where her recovery continued. As people came to visit her, she would ask how many days until the feast of Our Lady. Two more days we would tell her. She would talk about a beautiful feast in Heaven, but we all thought she was talking about the feast of Las Mañanitas that was soon approaching on the 12th. The following night, she was rushed back to the hospital. It was the eve of the feast of Our Lady. Four hours until midnight...

Would she go on this day? When the clock strikes 12? Or would she recover? Midnight happened and she was still with us. Everyone held their breath. We all decided to sing her Las Mañanitas for it was "el dia de su santo," meaning "the day of her saint". In Mexico, there is a tradition that if you are named after a saint, you are celebrated and honored on their day of remembrance. My grandma's name was Guadalupe, just like Our Lady. So you can just imagine how much more special this day was for her and the family. It was a few minutes before noon when we sang. A few minutes after we were done, the clock read 12:12 and the monitor read question mark. The sun came out from the gray clouds...my grandma was now celebrating in Heaven for the feast of Our Lady just like she had talked about a few days before.

Today sitting in the mission as I heard one of the Guadalupana songs, I was taken back to these moments last December, which brought me to tears. Tears of missing her. Tears of joy. Tears of love and gratitude. Tears of hope and peace. It was such a powerful experience. And that's when it hit me...My grandma did not leave on an ordinary day. I knew that when she first passed away, but now as her one year of being gone is coming up, it is more evident. Every year, God willing, I will attend celebrations for Our Lady of Guadalupe and I will imagine my grandma in Heaven having her own celebrations. My grandma's fear was that she would be forgotten. My grandma was a big devout to Our Lady. So Our Lady, being our mother, full of love and compassion, interceded so that my grandma's pain could come to a rest and enter Heaven with a big feast. She made she sure my grandma would not be forgotten and always be celebrated. These celebrations once helped me feel blessed for the culture I come from, and now they will forever remind me of how blessed I am to be the granddaughter of such a beautiful soul.

Que Viva mi Abuelita y La Virgen Maria!