Picture it, New York, 1935
The date was February 1st, and 26 degrees was the high.
Victor and Bessie Zuniga welcomed a child that day,
It was their second daughter; they named her Juanita Mae.
On Saturday, February 10, 2024, my grandmother, Juanita Mae Franzini, passed away. She was 89 years old.
I don’t remember my life without her in it. She was always a constant for my sister and I, picking us up every Friday after school and taking us home to spend the night or weekend with her.
I have memories of playing secretary and office at her house because my grandfather always had a ton of “While You Were Out’ notepads from his office laying around and when it was nice, my sister and I would ride our bikes around the back patio and play drive thru window.
She could make us quiet just by holding up her index and middle fingers. To the world it’s a symbol of peace, with my grandmother it was “be quiet now or else.” I picture her in her rocking chair either smoking a cigarette or a straw, depending on whether it was one of the years where she quit.
When we went to church, I remember her telling me that even if I said nothing else, I needed to say, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.” I don’t know why that sticks out in my mind.
She always drove a minivan, at least for as long as I remember. She was so excited that one year the family bought her an automatic start for her car, so she didn’t have to go outside to warm it up in the winter.
I love looking at pictures of her when she was younger because she was gorgeous!
She always painted her nails bright red, always.
She cheated at Uno.
She taught me how to bake her apple pie that, for the life of me, I can’t get right unless I bake it with her.
She loved my sister and I so much. She lost her mother and her sister within the same year my mother was pregnant and due to give birth, and my mother didn’t know she was having twins. They only did ultrasounds when they thought things were wrong (I’m aging myself right now) and mine and my sister’s hearts were beating at the same time, so the doctor only ever heard one heartbeat. So, when she was in labor, they took an x-ray thinking there was a 14lb baby in there. Surprise…it was two babies. After we were born, when my grandmother heard, she walked around for months saying, “God took two and he gave me two.”
I am so thankful that she was able to know and love my husband and my brother-in-law. I love that she was able to meet and love all of our babies.
I miss her smile. I miss her laugh. She had such a sense of humor, especially at the end. Maybe because she knew there wasn’t much time left, but she was always cracking jokes and laughing.
I miss the way her hair always looked the same, day after day.
I miss the sound of her voice.
I miss her.
But I love that, near the end, when she would fall asleep for a little while and then wake up, she talked of seeing her mother, of seeing my grandfather. It gives my heart peace to know she had loved ones waiting for her in heaven, and that one day, I'll see her again.
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