Elizabeth Cardona: September 2017

Elizabeth Cardona was born in San Juan, PR in December 20,1936. She was the 5th out of 7 siblings, in a very conservative, Christian home.

She married young and by age 18 had her first daughter, Aida Elisa, (me) but due to some difficult experiences, she found herself as a divorced woman by the age of 21.

During this period, she went back to live with her parents and she worked hard at the Warners Bra factory in Guaynabo, her home town.

One day, she met with the sister of a former boyfriend, one she had when she was 14, who told her that Jaime, that’s the handsome fellow, was also divorced. And so they reconnected and got married in December 1962. From this marriage they had Dámaris and Waleska

Mama and Papi were living a happy, comfortable life where Mama devoted herself to her children and sometimes helping at the office at her husband’s business. She enjoyed cooking and baking classes, sowing and crocheting. In 1979, Jaime was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. His illness had no cure and this forced them to sell the businesses. He quickly fell into depression and used alcohol to self – medicate. Meanwhile, mama turned ferociously to her faith, taking Dámaris and Wally to worship at a Pentecostal Church in Rio Piedras, PR. This experience shaped us significantly. For mama, it meant that now she became the sole provider of a household of 4, with no formal studies and a suicidal husband who could not be left alone.

Well, she was a resourceful, strong woman and her love and commitment for her family droved her to start a daycare center in her home and also bake wedding cakes to supplement her income.

Mama became a young grandmother at the age of 38, when Aida and her husband Carlos had their first daughter Carmen Elizabeth. Eventually the grandchildren kept coming and she had 2 more from Aida, Carlos Jaime and Karem del Lourdes.

She also had 3 more grandchildren, Alex, Beatriz and Bianca who she helped raise for in 1999, when the Williams family relocated to Armonk, NY, she came to live with us and became an integral part of our lives.

She was NOT a grandmother on the “sidelines”. This grandmother helped with the driving around to dance classes, basketball practices, and playdates. She even took the 3 kids in a basketball trip to Disney without the parents, immediately becoming the official grandma of the Byram Hills girls basketball team. She never missed a game.

Mama’s love and devotion to her family was so evident to all who met her. From helping financially, to helping raise children, to supplying whatever need she could, mama was always there for her daughters, grandchildren, siblings, and her own mother, who she took care of 2 years before Julia died.

She was a hard worker, courageous, Christian woman. Even during her last 2 years of life, while being treated with chemotherapy for her breast cancer, Mama still took care of her sister Lydia, cooked lunch on Sundays to visit the oldest sibling in an assisted living community and always planned the gatherings for holidays.

She taught us with her example that love for family is expressed by actions, no just words, and to serve God humbly, using our resources to help those in need around us.

Monday, September 18, 2017