Mama Querida, You would have been a 104, this coming Mothers Day and I know it would have been a joy for you to have everybody at your house, one more time.

We would have all gotten that Look from you, that look that says, “You are safely home again “and, we would all feel okay again, like when we were kids. The warmth of your look is something I never stopped remembering, I can’t forget it cause it’s the part of you, that’s in me, your spirit.

Where did that Look come from and why did it become so important, now that it’s gone. All of us now know it came from a life dedicated to your children upon, whom you subordinated your own dreams and hopes, for their happiness. There would be no toil or challenge, too great, to face for us. You asked for no reward for your efforts, only that we prepare ourselves to face things with resolve and a plan. To not know where you were going or how to get there was not good.

You said “Don Jose Puentes”, your father always had a plan, whether good or bad he always had a plan. If we didn’t plan, then we should plan to fail.

Your life lesson for us always started with a New Mexico story of your childhood and always concluded with a message of hard work, faith and family. You taught us to respect and sometime fear the strong women in our lives, the strong Nanas, who were raising large families, the cannery ladies toiling to support themselves and their kids, the church Hermanas’ who were doing the Lords work. These people were to be respected because they toiled for others and for the good of the neighborhood.

If we had you one more time, on Mothers day, things would be a little different, your first born is now 85 and your baby is 66, there would be an army of grandchildren, to the power of ten all wanting to touch their big Nana. We would all gather around like kids waiting for the warm meal you would be cooking and your cafeteria brewing the Maxwell House, you loved so much. It would be loud, big families use noise as the wallpaper of their lives. Each of us would ask you for that Look, one more time and you would smile.

Now that you’re gone, we all figured out why the Look was so important to each of us, because your eyes were the first we saw, as we came into the world.

Your Son