Delia Orfila

Our grandmother Delia passed away yesterday at 6:05 pm. Born on May 2, 1915, she was just a few weeks shy of her 100th birthday. She was a strong woman. She widowed while pregnant with her only child, our mom. She immigrated from Cuba and never remarried. She raised my mom in New York as a single parent and worked as a seamstress. As a child, we admired her work ethic and dedication to family. She provided for us, took care of us, bought and paid off her own home, and even her own cemetery plot. She remained independent, living on her own up until about 3 yrs ago. Yes, many years ago she moved out of her own house to an apartment.. Although eventually she could not live on her own, we were fortunate in that our mom would bring her over to our house to visit. She loved watching her great grand children play in our yard. She was just at our home last Saturday.. Lastly, she calculated everything, even on her final day.. I arrived to join my mom and brother at her bedside. We shared pictures and videos of my children, our family, and even pictures of her from long ago. She reacted by looking at us and blinking. She then passed away, in peace, knowing that she gave all she could for us and that we appreciated her and we would always love and cherish her. Rest in peace Abuela Delia, u always meant the world to us. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nuestra abuela Delia fallecio en el dia de ayer a la 6:05 pm. Ella nacio el 2 de Mayo de 1915 y estaba a solo unas semanas de su cumpleaos numero 100. Ella fue una mujer fuerte. Enviudo mientras estaba embarazada de su unica hija, nuestra madre, y nunca volvio a casarse. Emigro desde Cuba. Crio a mi madre en Nueva York como una madre soltera mientras trabajaba de costurera. De nios, admiramos su etica de trabajo y dedicacion a nuestra familia. Ella nos dio soporte, nos cuido, compro y pago completamente su propia casa e incluso su propiedad en el cementerio. Permanecio independiente hasta hace solamente tres aos. Si, algunos aos atras, ella se mudo de su propia casa a un apartamento. Aunque eventualmente ella no pudo vivir de forma completamente independiente, nosotros fuimos afortunados en que nuestra madre la traia frecuentemente a visitarnos. Ella amaba ver a sus nietos jugar en el patio. Ella estuvo en nuestra casa el pasado Sabado por ultima vez. Finalmente, ella calculo todo, incluso su dia final. Yo me uni a mi madre y hermano junto a su cama. Nosotros compartimos fotos y videos de mis hijos, nuestra familia, e incluso fotos de ella hace algun tiempo. Ella reacciono mirandonos y pestaando. Fue entonces que fallecio, en paz, sabiendo que ella nos dio todo lo que pudo. Sabiendo tambien cuanto nosotros la queriamos y que siempre la amariamos y la recordariamos siempre. Descanse en paz Abuela Delia. Tu siempre representaras todo para nosotros.