nplove Land

I'm sad to say that my nana, Esperanza Leyvas, my Nana Hope, passed away this weekend.

She hadn't been feeling well and had even visited the doctor, who gave her a shot and sent her home. Friday night, she called my mom to tell her she didn't feel "well." My mom immediately went over. Kayla had to jump the fence, go into the house and look for a key to unlock the gate. The paramedics arrived and diagnosed her with pnemonia and a bad lung. She was taken to the hospital in El Centro.

The doctors there determined instead that she had had a heart attack. They tried several drugs to help save her and to remove the big clot in her artery, but nothing worked. Nothing was able to elevate her blood pressure or diminish her pain and she passed away around 1 am. Some of the family was able to be there with her in the ER. Others just missed her.

Most of the family are here in town now, working out details for the services. The rosary will be Wednesday night 12/21/05 at the Hems Mortuary from 6 to 9 pm. Mass on Thursday morning 12/22/05 at the Catholic Church at 9:00 am, burial following at the Calexico cemetery. My grandmother was well known and a pioneer of Calexico, so there should be tons of people around. It's even been announced on the radio in Mexicali if you can believe it!

I miss her already. It hits me every once in a while, how I won't be able to walk over to say hi (she lived around the corner), or to tease her by inviting her to the movies (which she never would take me up on). I won't get to sit next to her at future Calexico events, eat with her at Carrow's, or see her sitting on my living room couch ("Hey, you here again?").

My mother has been staying away from the hubbub at the house, preferring instead to busy herself cooking and visiting with family members who drop by. She just doesn't want to interfere in the planning, the searching for important documents. Nana was such a private person. However, I was over there this weekend and choose to collect photos and gather all the ones I found into a shoe box. I've been busy scanning them, fixing some up, to post on the family website. I also want to archive them all, give my family each a CD. I'm also working on the usual collage for the visitation. That's my therapy.

Love you Nana.
Cindy