PROVIDENCE — Andrew Hernandez grew up in Pawtucket with his grandmother, Berta.
She had a talent for cooking up rice and beans Colombian-style and a burning desire to make sure none of her 9 children and 15 grandchildren were hungry.
“She always remembered if we hadn’t eaten yet,” the 25-year-old architect recalled Sunday afternoon, following a special ceremony at Swan Point Cemetery for those who grieve during the Christmas season.
Twenty members of Berta Estrada’s family took seats in Swan Point’s chapel, moist-eyed and wondering how they will get through their first Christmas season without Berta, who died in April at age 82.
The “Light Up A Life” remembrance ceremony on Sunday afternoon, arranged by Hope Hospice & Palliative Care, filled two buildings at Swan Point.