Mensagens

Mariela y yo fuimos amigas por más de cincuenta años. La conocí cuando éramos jóvenes y desde el primer día supe que era una mujer especial. Nunca la vi hablar mal de nadie, nunca la vi rendirse, nunca dejó de sonreír aunque la vida le presentara dificultades. Era de esas personas que te hacen mejor con solo estar cerca. Voy a extrañarla cada día. Que Dios la tenga en su gloria.

Abue, ayer intenté hacer tus tamales y me di cuenta de lo mucho que me falta aprender. Siempre decías que la receta estaba "en el corazón", y ahora entiendo lo que querías decir. Me duele no poder llamarte para preguntarte. Me duele no poder verte llegar el domingo con esa sonrisa enorme. Pero sé que estás bien, y eso me da paz. Gracias por todo el amor que nos diste. Eras y serás siempre nuestra abuela favorita.

Qué difícil es escribir estas palabras. Nunca fui bueno expresando lo que siento, y tú siempre lo sabías y lo aceptabas sin pedir nada. Eso era lo tuyo, mamá — amarnos tal como somos, sin condiciones, sin reproches. Te fuiste dejando un vacío que ninguna persona ni ninguna palabra podrá llenar. Pero también nos dejaste llenos: de valores, de recuerdos, de ese amor tuyo que lo cubría todo. Hasta pronto.

Ernest played that trumpet every Sunday for thirty-one years. His music was prayer made sound. This congregation feels his absence in its bones.

Oscar funded our after-school program for eight years without ever attending an event, accepting recognition, or asking for anything. I have never met a humbler man.

Grandpa told me that the best way to have a full life was to make sure other people could too. He meant it. He lived it. I will try.

The free clinic he funded has seen over 12,000 patients in seven years. He sat on the board but never asked for a photo or a plaque. Just results.

She and I met at a conference in Edinburgh and argued about Calvino for three hours over wine. I have never had a better evening.

Her own novel "Il Porto dei Sogni" is a masterpiece. I hope it finds the translator worthy of it that Renata deserves.

I read "The Stone Fishermen" in Renata's translation. Then I learned Italian so I could read the original. The original was not better. That is how good she was.

She choreographed the piece we performed at the national showcase in 2015. Critics said it was the most emotionally honest dance they had seen that year. That was Bea.

She demanded everything from her students and gave even more back. I have never met a teacher who cared harder.

She taught my 70-year-old mother to salsa and my mother still goes dancing on Saturdays. That class changed her life. Bea changed a lot of lives.

Bea and I studied together in Montreal in the 80s. She was already extraordinary then. She only got more so. Miami got very lucky.

Dona Francisca fez meu vestido de noiva, os vestidos das minhas filhas e os da minha neta. Quatro gerações vestidas por ela. Obrigada por tudo.

My grandfather the judge. He would have hated that sentence. He'd say: I was a man first. The rest was just a job title. He was right, of course.

He volunteered with our student legal clinic every Thursday for eight years after retirement. He didn't need to. He wanted to.

Dad never talked about his cases but he talked about justice constantly. At dinner, on walks, in the car. I thought every family was like that. They weren't.