Lena Serrano - Online Memorial Website

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Lena Serrano
Born in California
79 years
11137
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He is a God, not of the dead, but of the living, for they are all living to him.Luke 20:38


This memorial website was created to remember our dearest Lena Serrano who was born in California on June 7, 1938 and passed away on August 10, 2017. You will live forever in our memories and hearts.

Our Lena (Granny) was the best grama, tough and loving at the same time.  She made sure that as much as she could she protected and loved each and every one of us that came from her.  She also loved those who love and were good to her kids and grandkids including spouses and close friends.  She wasn't just grama she was a friend to each of us and always rooted for us, wanted us to love Jehovah and eachother and to be good to other humans.  She set the example in all of those aspects of life. All of us had our very own relationship with her but each included love, laughter and maybe a little bit of healthy fear.  She would not tolerate certain behaviors and attitudes but was most forgiving when anyone of us would make adjustments.  She was always hardworking, she held down more then one job at time for many years, while raising children as a widow. Even when she retired she still worked hard at home and at our homes, cooking, cleaning and helping us to raise our kids. 

Grama was born in Los Angeles, California.  Raised mostly in downtown L.A.  She was one of 6 children, second to the oldest.  She had many adventures with her siblings. We loved hearing the stories of their antics and now it brings us comfort to repeat them to eachother.  She married and became a mother at a young age and so in a lot of ways grew up with her children, she also had 6 children.  This created a very special bond that has trickled down to the grand children and great grand children.  She had many sad and tragic events in her life, such as losing her 18 year old son, Robert, to murder in 1976.  She was widowed at a young age.  She unexpectedly, lost her mother when her mother was only 62 years old and her father years before that.  She lost two grand children, Rebecca in 1991 and Marcos in 2007.  Rebecca was an infant and Marcos had just turned 32 when they fell asleep in death.  Not only did she grieve the loss of those grandkids but it was torturous for her to watch her children suffer such huge losses.  She also lost siblings along the way and this was also heart wrenching for her.  She was close to her brothers and sisters and brother and sisters in law. 

Grama loved to dance and she loved music, we almost always had music playing in the background or dancing at our family functions.  She liked to jitterbug and was willing to dance whenever she was asked.  She was good at it too and it brought us a lot of joy to watch her.   Her favorite song was "a thousand stars in the sky" by Kathy Young and the Innocents.  Her daughter, Anita, once asked her what she thought about when she listened to the song but she only smiled.  I listen to the song and too wonder what ran through her mind, and the thought of her reliving some happy memory of her youth, warms my heart. 

She was a good woman and just like the rest of us, made her share of mistakes but she owned up to them and did her best to make changes to rectify what she could.  She set a wonderful example in my lifetime about loyalty, being a hard worker inside and outside of the home, being there for your children and doing whatever is in your power to protect them.  She taught us about being women, strong and loving. She wanted us to make sure to take care of ourselves, to look nice, keep a neat home, cook, work hard at whatever we did and to take care of each other.  That's what we are doing, Grama would expect it. 

Grama battled with many illness over the last several years including cancer.  She fought with the strength of many warriors and she did well.  In her last days she suffered tremendously but kept fighting, I know that it was for our sake.  It wasn't any of the illnesses that she battled that took her life, it was sepsis.  Many people don't know about this horrendous infection but its what takes many peoples lives after having low immunity and being in and out of hospitals.  Please be cautious, ask lots of questions and know the symptoms. If someone you love has been in the hospital or has been battling some illness or disease and seems to be in a terrific amount of pain, can't keep food or water down because of severe abdominal discomfort that is unexplained, don't be afraid to make medical personal to test for this killer infection.  The medical community should do much, much, more to educate patients and their families to know what to look for and honestly doctors should be educated to spot this illness.  Sadly, it seems that the many doctors in charge of her care missed the symptoms.  

Grama always fought for us, always.  Even on that last terrible day.  Many of us gathered at the emergency room of the hospital she was taken to.  She had been in and out of the emergency room/hospital several times in recent months.  She was in excruciating pain all that afternoon and evening and it seems she was close to death, even no longer being able to speak.  911 was called and the paramedics came to take her to the hospital and our sweet Stephanie (who always took care of grama) rode with her for the last time.  Grama kept holding on as best she could until we could gather in the ICU room to say goodbye.  She never opened her eyes or spoke but she held on.  We each had our turn to kiss her and tell her we loved her before she went to sleep.  

Many of us share the same hope that she had, that the dead will be resurrected to life (John 5:28, 29).  It is this hope that helps us to keep going. Knowing that we will be together again and that she will be happy and healthy is most comforting. For now, we will work hard to follow the example that she set and to continue working to keep our faith and hope strong, while we wait to be reunited.  We are just waiting to hug her and kiss her and hear her beautiful voice speak to us again.

We will use our wonderful memories to comfort us until we meet again.....

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