This picture was taken after Louie's wedding. We all went to breakfast the next morning.  

Although we are all having waves of sadness to deal with now, we must remember an anecdote our Dad shared with a nurse on his second to last visit to the cancer center. She asked Papá, how are you holding up so well with all you e been through in the last 3 years. 
He asked her , have you ever been in a very large body of water that you can’t see a border, well that’s how I feel now. But I know what I must do. I take a deep breathe and when the wave comes over me I’m under water, but I k
Just keep swimming until I can take another breath and swim again. They is what I do because what other choice do I have, ‘Que otro remedio’.  This is life. He shrugged and smiled kindly. She left the room, found me in another room scheduling the next appointment , told me and we  wept together at how simple it sounded to him but how profoundly this sentiment has impacted our family and our choices we have made during this challenging time. 

Papá se despidió a todos por Joelma, le dio gracias por su cariño cuidando a el y Pilita con un corazón abierto y detalle a todo. Ello respondió, you soy la agradecida porque mi tiempo con ti se queda en mi corazón para siempre. Pedrito eres iluminado de corazón y me has enseñado tanto de cosas escolares pero mucho más de ser bueno en la vida. 
Papá said he was lucky for her caring but we know we were the fortunate and blessed ones to have a Husband, Daddy, Hermano, Tío, Abuelo y amigo de todos. No hay palabras para expresar la influencia de mi padre, con el balance de la chispa y energía de mi madre, en nosotros y todos sus queridos. 
Our Father was a hard working, hard playing, strong, loving, patient, calm, so funny , dignified and gentle man. 
He loved his family especially his legacy of his grandchildren and wanted us all to choose to be positive,  to flip out tortilla to the side that was not burnt and enjoy our time together always. 

Our Dad’s  simple, but profound  and enlightening tortilla metaphor was but one example of how he practiced what he said so often ‘mind over matter’. We must use our minds because the mind is very powerful. 
That optimism, humor , love and ‘picardez’ was woven into all his stories. He also relished in sharing his love of learning and years of knowledge whether it was tales of history, philosophy, mythology, geography or languages. 
But make no mistake although he was a distinguished philosopher at heart, he never passed on an opportunity for a competitive game of Rumi, Poker,   Brisca, Tute, chess, checkers and his favorite dominoes with family and friends.  Any new competitor was not safe from his innocent ruse to reel them in saying, ‘perhaps I know how to play this game, but it’s been years’, with an unwavering poner face and untroubled grin. He even ‘hustled’ his own grandsons, Andrew Peter and Joseph. Andrew Peter became his mark at poker and Joseph at checkers. 
His cleverness was paralleled with his gratitude for goodness around him as he expressed to Joelma on what we now realize was his goodbye to her, but in a sense it was his goodbye to all of us, without having to see his daughters sadness, looking at him in his final day. He chose Joelma to say goodbye to, so very true to his personality of protecting and sparing his daughters of any distress.  His goodbye to me was loving and usual, simply ‘Adios Papá, te quiero mucho’ and he replied in his low voice, ‘Yo también,  saludos a tu gente y besos a las niñas’. ‘Maneja con cuidado’. I kissed him again and them yelled back down the hall ‘siempre’ . Ordinary and beautiful and reassuring as always. 
Papá thanked Joelma for caring for him and Pilarcita with openness, love and thoughtfulness. And her response was ‘no , it i that should thank you for my time with you will stay in my heart forever. Pedrito, your heart is light, ‘iluminen ado de corazon’ and you taught  me about scholarly and goodness in life.

Standing here with all of you it’s so difficult to k ow where to begin, so I’ll start with my Dad’s advice when any of us were worked up about something bothersome “Take it easy , take it easy…”
Papá treated everyone and I mean everyone with respect and kindness. But that also meant that no one was spared from being part of his stories and jokes. He never hesitated to make himself the butt of his jokes and laugh at himself as well. 
He loved telling tall tales recounting stories from his childhood into adulthood with a sparkle of ‘picaro’ in his eye. For years he told Elena and Victoria stories a out ‘Pepito el Malo’ and all the ‘Dennis the Menace’ type adventures  he got himself into. They laughed about the stories so much together and anytime Abuelo would do something ‘picaro’ they’d say uh-oh Pepito el Malo regresó. We all realize now that those were stories from his own childhood. 
Throughout this past year countless doctors and nurses would  comment what a gentleman he is and ask how how he was so positive? One appointment he explained to his physical therapist by telling her how to make a Spanish tortilla. He described the process of making his famous tortilla from peeling the potatoes, sautéing each ingredient; onions, chorizo and finally the potatoes and egg. It required low flame for cooking each ingredient. And then he explained sometimes you burn the tortilla but all you have to do is flip it and then the other side faces up. The burnt side always exists together with the side you choose to face up. They must exist together. He smiled, she nodded her understanding. Only Papá could create a lovely life’s lesson about his relentless positivity and optimism. You just have to choose to flip to the other side of your tortilla. He chose that optimism more than I can imagine in the past 3 years and I suppose his whole life ad well, without me being specifically aware of it. It just was - “Que será será “ , another of his favorite sayings. 

Dá Adeus dói muito 😢, vou dá um até logo a você amado Pedro , porque ficamos aqui aguardando a nossa vez , guardo no meu coração ❤️ todas as lembranças boas e ensinamentos que tive a honra de receber de você durante esse curto tempo que estive do seu lado , o seu legado de bondade e sabedoria será  lembrado por todos que teve o prazer de ti conhecer e conviver contigo , vá em paz ,descanse nos braços do pai e esteja ao lado de quem ti fez feliz  ao lado da nossa saudosa Pilli e não esqueça de falar pra ela que ti cuidei com todo meu amor 😍 ok você  será uma estrela 🌟 que vai iluminar o céu e também  aqui na terra  a quem teve a honra de ti conhecer , até Pedrito .I love you pra sempre 

My dear friends Pedro..Foi uma honra poder te conhecer e me tornar seu amigo..mais ainda para Joelma em poder servir você e sua grande família por mais de 1 ano..dedicando todo carinho ; amor e atenção ..que nosso senhor Jesus Cristo lhe dê a paz eterna e que neste novo plano espiritual vc seja recebido por todos os espíritos de Luz..que nossa amizade perdure para a eternidade..você sempre morará no meu coração e de Joelma..Luz sempre a vc meu amado amigo..

Querido Pedro:Me imagino como habra sido tu encuentro con Pili , ya estais juntos para siempre ! veo la sonrisa de Pili al verte y el abrazo  en que os habeis fundido , ya nada ni nadie podra separaros , ya volveis a caminar cogidos de la mano paseando en ese paraiso que dicen ya no hay penas ni dolores ni miedo , donde reina solo la paz y el amor , donde te reencuentras con todos lo tuyos.Aqui nos quedamos con el recuerdo del tiempo que pasamos juntos ,fuiste un excelente marido ,padre y amigo  que dejo huella por donde paso y nosotros te recordaremos siempre.Por favor cuando veas a Chris dile que lo queremos,os imagino jugando al domino.BUEN VIAJE QUERIDO AMIGO!

My condolences to Gabriella and Sylvia and their families. This last couple of months has been heartwarming for me, I was lucky that I got to spend time with all of you. I mostly enjoyed your dad his outlook on Life amaze me. His positivity and strength enlighten my well being . I enjoyed playing cards with him cooking and most of all his sense of humor. Pete you will be missed all. Fly high with Maria and the angels. No more pain no more testing but most of all rest well my friend love you.

OBITUARY

Pedro Gómez

February 3, 1937 – November 9, 2021

Mack Memorial Home

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