Wednesday, August 20, 2025
I’m Alberto Arana Jr, the proud son of Alba Arana. On behalf of my family, I want to thank each of you for being here today—to remember her, to honor her, and to celebrate the remarkable life she lived.
My mother was a woman of incredible strength. She was brave, strong-willed, and resilient in ways that inspired everyone around her. She took motherhood seriously, not as a role she happened to have, but as a calling she devoted her whole heart to.
Mom had an unwavering sense of family values. To her, family was not just important—it was everything. She believed that family was the anchor in every storm, the place where love is unconditional and loyalty is non-negotiable. No matter what challenges life placed in her path, her priority was always to protect, nurture, and unite the people she loved most.
One of my fondest memories is of going to the jewelry store she owned in New Jersey after school every day. I would help her out, and in those moments—whether we were organizing displays or ringing up customers—we were really just spending quality time together. It didn’t matter how busy the day had been; she always found ways to make me feel included, valued, and loved.
She worked hard, often juggling many jobs, but she always kept me close. When she cleaned houses, she would bring me along, letting me sit quietly on the couch watching the New York Yankees while she worked. When she went to cosmetics and women’s underwear wholesalers to buy items she would later resell, I was right there with her, watching how she turned ideas into income. And when she took home gold chain link soldering work, I even had my own task—picking up the tiny pieces that had fallen to the floor.
I also remember her picking me up from elementary school, a daily moment that always felt special. Sometimes we would walk together along 10th Avenue in New York City, just talking as the city moved around us. Other days we’d hop on the bus, and if the weather was bad, she wouldn’t hesitate to get us a cab so we could get home safe and warm. No matter the route, those were moments where I felt her love in the simplest, purest way—just by being there.
One of the proudest shared moments we had was when she was preparing to become a United States citizen. Every day, I would test her on the known questions for the citizenship exam—quizzing her on history, government, and civics until she could answer without hesitation. I know how much that meant to her, not only because it was an important milestone in her life, but because we did it together. The day she passed, her smile said it all.
And no matter how demanding her work was, she never let it get in the way of making sure her children were well fed. She took pride in her daily home-cooked meals, often preparing dinners completely from scratch. She would visit a poultry shop for the freshest chicken, a meat market for the best cuts, a produce shop for crisp vegetables, and a spice shop for just the right flavors. Sometimes that meant cooking something up in the morning before we had even woken up, so that when we opened our eyes, the smell of breakfast lingered in the air. Next to the plate, she would leave a small handwritten note telling us what she had made and to enjoy it—a simple gesture that spoke volumes about her love. In later years, it meant carefully packing leftovers into neat containers for us to take home—a ritual that almost never failed. It was her way of taking care of us even when she couldn’t be right there beside us.
My mom was also a woman of dreams and determination. She had a spark for entrepreneurship—always starting new businesses, turning ideas into reality. She understood the value of hard work and the wisdom of saving for a goal. She didn’t care for wasteful luxury items or spending money on lavish things in general, yet she still carried herself with an undeniable sense of elegance and presence. That balance—practicality paired with grace—was one of the many ways she taught me that true beauty comes from how you live, not just what you own.
And in the last five years of her life, I saw the grandest fight I have ever witnessed. Her breathing problems began in close alignment with when COVID began in January of 2020, and from then on she lived with supplemental oxygen nearly the entire rest of her lifetime. She battled through chronic pulmonary respiratory issues for 5 solid years with courage that defies words. She endured over 200 days in the hospital, countless MRIs, X-rays, echocardiograms, CAT scans, countless endoscopies, thousands of pills, and more than a hundred doctor visits. She never let go of her will to live and, through it all, found very little reason to complain. She was relentless in this battle to breathe, and over the years, I could tell she brought a unique joy to many of her doctors, even in the midst of her struggle, of that fight, she carried that with grace, is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
Before I close, I want to take a moment to recognize my father for truly demonstrating a grand example of “till death do us part.” My father, retired from a long career in handyman work that included plumbing, electric, carpentry naturally giving him a heavy hand but found himself in a new role—one he had never trained for—home nursing for his wife of 56 years. He wanted to help his wife and had very little choice but to learn how to take vitals, administer the 11 pills of medication daily, treat painful pressure bed sores, create daily food plans, find ways around the house to prevent falls, understand pulse oximeters, and administer the weekly Friday injection, facilitate bathroom necessities—just to name a few. And he did it all with grace, never once complaining. He promised to take care of his wife in health and in sickness, and he took this oath with the utmost seriousness. I feel very much inspired and privileged to have witnessed this real-life fairy tale of devotion and love.
Alba’s life was rich with lessons, but perhaps the greatest was this: hold your family close, cherish them, and never let the bond between you fade. She showed me that no matter how hard life gets, you can stand tall, keep going, and still find reasons to smile. She taught me that love isn’t just something you feel—it’s something you live, every single day, especially for the people you call family.
Mom, I will always remember your courage, your unwavering love, and the way you believed in me. Your legacy is woven into everything I am. And though we have to say goodbye today, I know your presence will never leave me—it will live in my heart, in the lessons you taught, and in the love you gave so freely.
Rest in peace, Mom. I love you.
