April 26, 1946 - January 24, 2013

Tribute by Ricky Sanchez

My Mother was a beautiful person inside and out, especially at heart. Anyone who was fortunate enough to encounter her and her wonderful traits, knows that to be the fullest definition of the truth. She is the reason why me and my family are standing here today. We all have that alone to thank her for, but she exeeded that a thousand times by being the best she could be for her family whom she loved with a passion that can out burn a million suns, not only as a Mother but as a person, and friend as well. I truly feel blessed to have such an amazing family who all share her genes. That comforts my heart and soul to know that even though she is gone, there is a part of her that lives within us all, weather it be genetics, memories, or things that she has tought us throughout her life with us.

I am also comforted by the fact that she left behind a huge and blessed family to help carry on her legacy, a legacy that is unique and beautiful in it's own respect. That is what she always wanted, a loveable caring family who has many different personalities and characters. From her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. We all have crazy, goofy, funny traits, that root to her.

I'm glad she had a chance to see a lot of her great grandchildren before she left us. That was her greatest joy in life, and my heart is overwhelmed with appreciation and happyness that she was able to see what an amazing generation she IS apart of...

I, first of have to thank my Mother from the bottom of my heart for teaching me how to love and cherish my loved ones to spite any fights, arguments, or disagreements we may have... My Mother didn't have much to offer me financially in life. I can honestly say that I am completely okay with that fact. She did her best to give me what I needed and at times, what i wanted, and I was happy with that. Because of her, I grew up a genuinly happy kid. She always put us before herself, if we didn't have enough food, she would starve just so me and my brother had something to eat.

She was truly selfless when it came to us kids. Even though we were poor she always had awesome ideas of things we could do as a family that didn't cost a dime. My Mother made the best effort for me as a kid and I never had any complaints, and still don't today. Because my Mom tought me something special that all the money in the world could never buy. She tought me how to appreciate the little things in life, things that we often take for granted, or never really give a second glance at these days.

She showed me a lot of amazing sights this world has to offer on our constant road trips to yet another new home. We moved from place to place, state to state. I honestly can't count how many times we relocated in search of a better life. I hated leaving home after home which we had done the majority of the time after my brother moved out, due to financial strains... but my mother showed me how to look at things from a more positive perspective. She would say "look at it as an adventure Ricky, a chance to discover what you have never seen before." It took me a while to see what she saw, but I grew accustomed to that type of lifestyle seeing as I had no choice in the matter.

Even in the worst of times she would always have a smile on her face like everything was going to be ok. That beautiful smile she ALWAYS had, gave me the confidence to start looking at things the way she did. Little did I know it was going to be a huge life lesson I could never forget in a million years. Not only was it a way to cope with hard times, but it applied to so many things in my life so far. Because of her amazing ability to see the better side of things and the years of experience of mothering four amazing kids before me.

She had a lot of wisdom that she more than happily shared with me. Me being the youngest of five kids, my three amazing sisters being old enough to be my mother and a brother who was old enough to be my uncle, lol. I believe I got the better side of the deal. I'll admit, I was a brat when I was a kid, I gave her a lot of unneeded greif. She always insisted it wasn't me, that I was going through some mental issues, being that I have seen my youngest sister get the shit beat out of her by her, now thankfully ex husband.

That was my mom though, she always insisted that I was a good kid that was just going through issues. Hell if I killed somebody she would be the first to defend me. lol. Given all that, it never stopped me from learning wisdom from my Mother. I believe it was more subconscious as a kid but grew to become more conscious and even second hand at nature.

The wisdom that she had to offer was installed in me at an early age, which came in handy later on as I grew into my teens. Because of my mother's great ability to mold my mind at such a young age, I was able to take care of her as the years passed and her physical abilities were limited more and more.

Mind you she was a bit older than moms usually are for a kid barely entering his teens. She started relying on me more and more as the years went on. I didn't enjoy helping my Mother all the time, it pains me to say that now because I feel like I could and should have been a better son to her... although being a young teenager in my position, I couldn't have quite a normal life as most teenagers did, the kind of life I wanted at the time. I would often wonder what it was like to be like those normal kids with younger moms that could do a little more physically with their kids, like play sports or anything physical as such. But my Mother still made an effort to do what she could, even though her physical abilities were limited.

Being the amazing Mother that she was, she compensated with things that she could physically do with me, like playing board game, cards... she would even make educational things like reading and writing, which she exeled at, seem fun, and as an result helped me with my school work. Yes, even thought she wasn't completely physically capable, in my mind she was like wonderwoman, she was my hero to spite any inabilities.

She was also great at interacting with me as a kid, mostly because she was still a big kid herself. We would play mario till our thumbs got numb lol, and she would always figure out tricks to get more lives so we could beat the levels faster! she definitely knew how to make me happy in the simplest of ways. My Mother was also a care free spirit, like no matter what happened in life everything would work out for the best. that's the kind of mother I had, someone who would constantly turn lemons into lemonade without so much as a grimace on her face, just a beautiful smile of acceptance and genuine happiness that we rarely see in people these day.

She tought me not to get caught up in things you don't have the power to change. I can still hear her voice telling me to this day " life is too short to let things hinder you from enjoying it, life has speed bumps, what happens with speed bumps Ricky? We get over them and move on". Even though I strived to have a "normal" life as a kid, I would never change one thing the whole time I had the honor of spending with my Mother, an amazing lady who had the most beautifully painted picture of life I have ever seen. She was and still is my idol of what kind of person I hunger to be.

My Mother didn't teach me how to become super successful financially, or how to chase money. My mother tought me that I can be ok without riches, fame, or even unnecessary possessions. I learned that all that matters in life is who you spend it with, and how to be happy with just that. I believe that is why I was a happy kid in spite of all the odds stacked against me. My Mother did the best she could for me and that made her my best friend and a joy to be around.

When I look back now after losing her, I just feel an "ah" something opened in my mind and it made me realize all she had done, and sacrificed for me. She got us through life to spite all the crazy unexpected things that has happened along the way, and she did it without so much as a flinch. My mother was the strongest person I knew in my life, she was my rock, my world! Because if anything bad or traumatic happened to me, I knew if I went to her she could help me through it no problem. Even though she is not here with me physically. I can still get advice from her, because I know that any question I would have for her she would answer back through my heart. "How?" You say? Because with her wisdom and love installed my heart, that very place is where she lives, weather she was alive with me or not...

in conclusion, I need to say that...I love you Mom, you were and always will be with me.I will never forget what you have tought me and I will make you damn proud of me in this life. I will do right by you by being the kind of person you raised me to be. I am forever greatful that in spite of how bad the world can be, you showed me the best way to counteract it and helped me beat the odds. You have showed me how to be a man, a man who knows how to appreciate life and to have the deepest unconditional love for my family, our family.

You can rest in peace now beautiful mother of mine, you have done right by me, by us all. we realize that you were right about the way you raised us. You can rest in peace knowing that you completed your challenging yet successful task in life. Your legacy of true love, caring, and wisdom will be passed on from generation to generation. Truly and sincerely by all your most greatful loved ones who were lucky to call you a sister, a mother, a grandmother, a great grandmother and a friend- Ricky Sanchez Nikki M. Moreno Juan Moreno alex veracuz, Angelia Ruiz Jennifer Mesta Lorenzo Mesta Jana Martinez Tammy Gomes Daisy Gonzalez Daniel Sanchez Jerry Ellis. And many more lives you've touched in your much necessary, empowering, and most amazing example of what human existence should be.

We all love you with the most intense feeling and meaning of the word. You are the sole reason why we can feel and understand this special kind of love, because you have showed us how.