My "Abuela" was one of the most fascinating people I have ever encountered.  Born in 1908 in Havana,Cuba, with no father present, she was sent to a school of nuns and raised by strong and determined women.  Unusually, for women of that time, she entered college and pursued a Doctorate in Pharmacology, which she received in 1932.  My Abuela married my grandfather, who was 15 years her junior. She was the original cougar!  After having three children, they separated when the youngest child was 6 months old. Fast forward 25 years, Cuba underwent the most dramatic change in the history of the Island. With the ascendance of Fidel and his communist regime, my mother at age 17, fled to the U.S. with my grandfather.  My first memories of my grandmother, were of listening to her help me pray at bedtime. It is a prayer I say to this day. I remember how she did my hair in "motonetas", high ponytails, and chased me around the house with a "chancleta" (a flip flop) when I misbehaved.  We used to call her the "human encyclopedia" as she always knew the answers to Jeopardy, before they finished giving the clue.  My life was filled with her stories, "refranes" and poems. This project will consist of my photography paired with her poetry.  It is a way for me to honor the strengh, courage and confidence that took root in me from the seeds she planted.