Luz Cabrera

My mother, Lucy, was born on October 27, 1930 in Lockhart, Texas to Julian and Narcissa Rios. She had 8 brothers and sisters. She passed away January 4, 2017. She was 86 years old. She fought a long battle with the horrible disease Alzheimer's.

She grew up in Sugarland, Texas until the age of 8, when her father passed away and the family moved to Mountain View, California. Even though she was raised and lived most of her life in Mt. View, she would always tell everyone she met that she was Texan!

In 1960 she met and married my father, Ernesto Cabrera at the SDA church in San Jose, California. They only had one child, but when you do it right the first time, I guess there's just no point in having more.

She worked at the publishing house owned by the church called the Pacific Press Publishing Association in their book binding plant. She worked their until 1986 when she moved to Gilroy, California in order to take care of her mother who also had Alzheimer's. When my grandmother Narcissa passed away, Ernesto and Lucy decided to move to Texas in order to be closer to their son Luis, his wife Andrea and her granddaughter Mikayla and grandson Ethan. Unfortunately Ernesto passed away in early 2000.

Her grandchildren were what brought her the most happiness and we were blessed to have her live with us for a time. Mikayla was the one she called her "One" special person. Ethan amused her so much with his antics that I am sure she felt some form of vindication knowing that I was getting a little retribution for some of the stunts that I pulled when I was growing up!

She came to the Brookdale Nacogdoches facility in 2006 when obligations dictated that we could not take care of her the way she needed. We are lucky and blessed to have found just the right place for her, as everyone here has gone above and beyond in order to help take good care of her.

Physically she was with us until January 4th but in reality she left us long ago. I am happy that she is finally at peace and has joined my father, Ernesto. In life, the only thing that they wanted was to be together, and now, they will have an eternity together. Lucy's birth name was actually Luz, which in Spanish means light. In life, she was a bright light that brought illumination into all of the lives that she touched. Her infectious smile and love of people was obvious to all that met her. She loved to dance and did so at every opportunity.

Lucy was known by many and loved by all. She lived simply, laughed often and loved deeply. We will all miss her but are happy that she has gone on to her reward in heaven with the love of her life. God has you safely in his keeping, we have you forever in our hearts.