I remember calling her “Nana” when we would come over, and how she would always greet my sister, Shaena, and I with hugs. She was so warm and loving to us, and loved her family immensely. She will be deeply missed. Our hearts go out to the Grimm family as they mourn this painful loss.
With love,
Shannon Moreno (Grossman)
Visiting Nana and my cousins, Erika and Samantha, was one of my childhoods joys. When we would visit she always reminded us of how beautiful we were, every time she saw us.
Nana always stressed the importance of learning and education, and educational shows on public television. She was the self proclaimed cookie monster because she loved cookies. She was outgoing and loved to dance. She was someone who was never afraid to speak up and cared for everyone. She talked regularly about her experiences teaching and how much of an impact and joy teaching children had on her.
Nana traveled by herself to Europe! When she came back she showed us all the photos she took and shared some special candy from Italy. I had never had candy like that before and to this day haven't had it since.
Some time later, while nana was living on her own in Brea, I was fortunate to have the chance to visit her a few times on my own. She loved to talk about her life experiences. She was fiercely independent and I have and will always admire her for that.
Love, Alondra
The following is the statement I read at the virtual memorial service in 2021:
It was a little difficult for me to just choose a couple memories, since we lived together for so many years, but I’ve come up with a few that I think serve as defining moments — or, maybe more like features of my growing up and my development that really speak to me at this point in my life.
Some of my earliest memories with Nana are of when we lived in Norwalk. She would walk Samantha and I, when we were really young, to a nearby Food 4 Less. All along the way, she made it a point to stop and point things out to us, like plants, or birds, or little insects. She would teach us the names of things, or the relationships between things, in a way that I think really sparked our interests in nature and animals — especially my interests in science and the natural world, and in just being outside and spending time thinking about the surroundings. I think fondly back on those walks. We continued going for walks after we had moved from Norwalk to Fullerton. We would take trips together to the Brea Mall. We would take the bus to the mall and walk around, visit different stores, eat at the food court, and then take the bus back home. I really enjoyed that as a child.
Similarly, I remember that she was always very enthusiastic about art. I remember that when we were young, she would always make little animal sculptures out of the clay or the play-doh that we used to have. In general, she was very encouraging of us creating things, whether it was art, with drawing and painting, or whether it was piano. I think that, at the time, I wasn’t really aware of just how valuable that support for artistic endeavor was, but now I really recognize how fortunate my sister and I were to have that kind of enthusiasm about creative projects from Nana — and from our parents, of course, too.
Finally, it’s not really any particular memory, but just the series of moments throughout her life where I saw just how many people she came into contact with, how many people she befriended, and how many people really loved and respected her. I do remember, in particular, at least one time — and probably many times — where she would see someone when the three of us were out, my sister and I with Nana, and she would smile and wave at them. They would smile and wave back, and my sister and I would ask her, “who is that?” and she would reply, “I don’t know!” She didn’t need to know somebody personally to extend respect and friendliness to them, and I think that that is something that has really stuck with me and something I’d like to cultivate in myself, too.
With all of that said, I am really grateful that Nana was such a big part of my life. It is hard for me to imagine myself and the kind of person I am without recognizing that she left such a generative impact on my education and my development. I really do see all of us, all of her grandchildren, as carrying on a certain kind of legacy of hers, and I’m truly grateful to be a part of that with all of you.
Erika Grimm