By Florence Anne Taiño

I celebrate the tray of cookies and pure joy;
The secret handing of some money,
The hands that held mine when no parent was around,
To you, my grandparents, I owe the child in me. 

You are loved and never forgotten. 

I celebrate the cooked meals every time I’d get home;
The hand that held mine to be taught how to write,
The worries and scolding I used to take offensively, 
The love for your child who misses you every day. 

You are loved and never forgotten. 

I celebrate the time we have joked around each other,
And though I hope we can always laugh with more of our friends,
I’ll try to understand why you had to wave goodbye at once,
I guess in the end, we’ll see each other again. 

You are loved and never forgotten. 

I celebrate the little moments with you. 
The conversations in silence I never had with anyone.
Dear, I still do not understand how parting can be this despairing,
And when you breathed your last, it felt like I was the one who lost a life. 

You are loved and never forgotten.