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Name: Raisa Valentina Pons Cordero de Pruitt (However, I have called my grandma 'Nanny' my whole life and she will always be known as such. In fact, I didn't know what her real name was until I was at least 8)
Three words to describe yourself: crazy, wrinkled, arthritic
Raisa was born in Havana, Cuba and lived there until she was fourteen until she emigrated to the United States to live in Miami. Her stepfather had run away on a boat to Miami, and her and her mom were able to attain exit visas. They had to leave because of the Communist takeover of Cuba. The thing she misses the most about Cuba was "family unity". The hardest thing about moving to America for Raisa was learning the English language. She "could read and write, but not speak [the language] very well". Jesus Christ is the most important person in Raisa's life and her biggest goal in life is to "not have Alzheimer's". Her first husband is my biological grandfather, but I've never met him and my dad has not had contact with him since he was five. My REAL grandpa is named Ron (I call him Poppy) and they met when she went to look for a job at a hotel. He had held the door open for her and my Great Aunt Juliet had pointed him out to my grandma. They were married ten days later on January 24th and my uncle was born later in December. She says the only reason they waited so long to get married was because "they had to wait for the marriage license". When I asked her why she was attracted to him, she said that "he was a hunk of a man . . . and no belly". They are coming on 43 years of marriage in January and watching them interact with each other is like watching a sitcom. My Nanny is a crazy latina and my Poppy is from Alabama (need I describe him any more than that?) and are both very stubborn. They make a cute couple :-)