Mi Abuelo

God gave me the two greatest grandfathers. In the world. I miss my dad's father terribly.
I love my mom's father very much, and am so glad I still have him in my life.
I call him Tati.
I honestly don't know how to describe him, but I'm going to try. If no one else cares, at the very least I'll come back and read this some day...

He's not warm, or touchy-feely, or nurturing, or open. Nope. Tati's more the tough-love type. He's probably the only tough-love family member I can think of. My grandma (Mamita) says that she came from a well-off family, and that she married for love. Me entiendes? She had money; he did not. But they were happy together, raising my mom in Caibarién.
When things started to take a turn for the worse in Cuba, my grandfather did a very brave thing. Tati left everything he knew. He came to this country with his tiny wife and young daughter without anyone else to provide for his family. And he somehow pulled it off.

He became a screen-guy. I don't really know what the title is, but basically he installed screens. And in a city like Miami, where there are many pools, and even more apartments with screened-in patios, there was plenty of work.
One of the buildings he was working at had him installing a screen with the ladder leaning on the building. It fell backward while he was working, and he landed on his head. In a pool. An empty pool.

Things haven't been the same ever since. He had major head trauma, from which he still suffers, and it's a miracle that he even lived. I've only known him after the accident.

I wish I would've known him before. Because this injured man is so amazing. I can only imagine what he was like before.
Tati is generous.
Tati is proud.
Tati is opinionated.
Tati is strong.
Tati is selfless.
Tati is loved.