He would be 100 today! Feliz cumpleaños, Papi!
What does a well-lived life, one of rich simplicity and love, of sacrifice for family and freedom, look like?
It looks like courting his sweetheart...
(Abue & Papi, 1945)
...and loving her all his life.
(in 1984)
It meant putting heart into his work...
(at La Gravi, his workplace in Cuba)
...and finding joy in his work at home...
(In Cuba)
(In Spartanburg)
...being gratified by God's creation.
(Across the street from his Brookside Rd home in Spartanburg)
His life was full of friendships...
(In the 1970's with Dora and Andrés Cruz)
(Celebrating with the Fernandez family in 1964)
(Stopping for lunch on the way to Miami in 1973, with Andrés Cruz)
(Visiting with Jeremy's Granny Beulah Wilde at her home in
Greenville, SC, Feb. 2000)
He loved to have fun...
(Varadero Beach, Cuba, 1935)
(Sometime in the '80's, our annual party for Cookie)
(Clowning around with brother-in-law, Chichi Genova, at Ghost Town)
(Abue & Papi with Jeremy and his parents, Sept. 2000)
He was devoted to his family...
(Aug. 1962, Caracas)
(Same group, 1978)
(My Papi & me)
(Baby Frankie came to visit)
(Sharing a paper, 1992. Notice Papi's chair...it's familiar to those of
you who spend time around my dining room table. Happy are those
who are able to share Papi's famous chair!)
(Frankie with Abue & Papi, Nov. 25, 2000)
He enjoyed celebrating...
(One of Papi's birthdays, probably 1979)
(His last birthday, Oct. 16, 2001)
(At Brookside Rd., I believe his last Christmas, 2001)
He was proud of his home...
("The house we built in 1952, Jovellanos")
...and just loved to be alive!
(With his brother-in-law, Osvaldo Diaz)
(I've always loved this photo of Papi and me!)
(The front steps at Brookside Rd., with Cookie. How I miss
them both...Oh, how I wish I could reach back in time through this photo!)
It's okay to look back, to unwrap the precious memories God gives us. It's right to thank Him for a life well-lived, that I got to witness and be a part of it, to be loved by this humble, gentle, courageous, caring man. It's bittersweet to reminisce about what once was, that will never be again, but to give thanks that I am who I am because of who he was.
Tears flow because I still miss him and what he stood for; I miss his voice, and his readiness to eat anything sweet. I miss his whistling (now I do it for him), and his singing random tunes. I miss his love for animals, and his willingness to fix anything. I wish he could have known my girls...he'd have been crazy about them. His memory lives on through my stories...it lives through all of us who loved him.
(1952)
(Sometime in the '80's, happy as usual, out in nature)
This gardenia is growing from another bush that was planted by Papi.
A tiny offshoot was transferred from SC to my yard in Hendersonville, NC,
where I now enjoy seeing it grow. It's wonderful to care for it and
delight in it as Papi did. I can't wait to see it bloom!
Thank you, God, for a baby boy named Antonio Jiménez Blanco, born October 16, 1916 in Havana. You gave us a rare treasure, and we celebrate him today!
