Marianela Rosa Bevilacqua

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Marianela Rosa Bevilacqua was born on February 19, 1956. She was born in the beautiful city of Havana in Cuba. On February 19, 1956, the world quickly saw what it was like to see a stunning beautiful woman with a heart to match. I had to start her obituary off like this because she would constantly tell me I never knew I could become such an ugly old woman. I look in the mirror and I don’t recognize myself. I know this sounds sad but don’t be we would actually laugh until it hurt.

During these conversations, what she was really trying to tell me was that she was so shocked because she was absolutely beautiful. No cosmetic surgery, no lip injections, rhinoplasty, and definitely no surgical enhancements to any of her body parts. These surgeries didn't exist back in my mom's days and if they did she wouldn’t have needed any of it. A face as beautiful as hers is only going to come around once or maybe twice, my son looks just like her.

To the woman in our family and to the future generation, learn to be beautiful in your own natural way. I realized as I went through my mom's life her photos and memories, that being natural is the way to go. With this being said, my mom would be extremely proud that I started off by letting you know how beautiful she was in case you didn’t get the chance to meet her in her youth. What my mom would want me to say about her life and living, besides that she was an all-natural beauty, is that she fought and loved hard and gave everything she had away. She would tell you that through losing her dad at twenty-one her biggest fear was dying young and leaving her kids. She couldn’t wait to give anyone a gift and to her, Christmas was in October or whenever she had the ability to do it. Why would you wait till December she would say? What if I don’t get the chance to give it to people then? Through watching her dad die young she learned how to live and love in the present.

Death couldn’t stop her from taking her dad away from knowing his grandkids. She would pack us up in the car at whatever time it was and off to the cemetery we would go. My mom brought my grandfather alive whenever we would visit him by going to see him to eat lunch and have family time became a normal ritual at the cemetery. She told us that my grandfather's biggest regret about dying in his forties was that he was going to miss out on getting to see his grandkids grow up. She would tell you that not even death can stop you from keeping someone’s love and legacy alive. She would want anyone who lost someone young or old to bring them alive to your family members and children. She would want you to love hard and never give up on the people you love. She thought everyone should watch nine and a half weeks (she also looked like Kim Basinger) and Fifty Shades of Gray at least five times a week maybe six. Run and kiss in the rain and don’t take life so seriously have some fun. Dance with midgets twice in your lifetime when you can and even if you are in pain if Pitbull comes on get up and dance.

I can end this obituary by telling you what she did for a living because she believed in hard work and working her way up from the bottom. My mom worked in the food and beverage industry on the Las Vegas Strip for over twenty-one years. Whatever job she did she mastered it. She worked in the bakery, cocktails, restaurants, and then eventually food and beverage management. However, she always thought she wasn’t smart because she didn’t get to go to college as she had three kids by twenty-one. But what she didn’t realize is that whatever they were learning at UNLV in the casino management department she would have aced every class. She worked in each position and put in the hours of hard work. Nothing in the textbook they were reading was going to show her anything about the casino industry or food and beverage that she did not already know. Once she was in management she worked fourteen hours a day and fell in love with her new career. She loved to decorate on the holidays at casino events, set up events for the homeless community, convince the casino she worked for to give away the food to the shelters, hire anyone who proved to her they wanted to work, promote the underdog and she did this all while maintaining for everyone to still love her at work. She believed in the magic of believing. She wanted everyone to read the book about how you can manifest with God's help the life you want.

If I had to end this obituary with anything meaningful I would want anyone reading this who feels they haven’t lived or is holding back waiting on something they want to do. Do it now like she would tell you to she had fun, worked hard, laughed till it hurt and most importantly she loved. She was a fighter, a giver who nobody was going to stop this strong feisty Cuban woman from accomplishing anything she wanted. She had all odds against her by coming from another country, having kids young, divorced, poor, single, and none of that got in her way. If she had to drive a moped to work she did until she saved for a car followed by saving for a house. The determination and fear of death kept my mom in good balance. Go out and do what makes you come alive and don’t be scared because you are not qualified. She would tell you to fake your way through it or read the magic of believing a few more times and light a candle to St. Jude if needed and don’t forget the glass of water next to it.

I will leave you all with this when you get back to your normal life and the everyday life kicks in. Don’t allow it anymore. Live like she did and if you’re too poor to go anywhere you’re not too poor for a bus ticket, grabbing a bucket of KFC chicken and sitting at a park, or throw it at people like she did a few times on the strip. She loved to sit and smell the rain outside or lay in bed while watching a good movie with fuzzy socks. All of these things don’t cost one dollar. Don’t let your job or your financial situation stop you from living your life. If you’re raising young kids break the routine and let them have fun every now and then. They have their whole lives to be serious. Let them stay home sometimes as she would let me and keep one kid home to have a fun day alone with you. If you’re stuck in mid-life and don’t know what to do at this point.

If you’re recently divorced, she would say to try again. She loved many times and had many beautiful love affairs. She didn’t let herself get stuck even after she said she lost the love of her life my father. Not to mention a few names here but a few stick in my mind. Rolly and Sergio allowed her to believe in love and the beauty of what it brings. She didn’t get to be Cinderella like she wanted, but she did have a lifelong love she would reach out to until she passed. So give love a chance again. She would tell you if she could go back she would not get stuck and not let fear take over. She would say to keep going and go out and live and make sure you love and give yourself the freedom to have fun.

Never forget the magic of believing and manifesting the life that you want. If you’re in her immediate family and you are good-looking at all or even resemble her she would want you all to know one more time that it’s all from her. Remember to give everything you have to the poor even if you stay hungry and without anything just as Jesus and my mom think this is the only way to be.

Marianela is preceded in death by Omar Hernandez Senior (father), Julia Montes (mother), Omar Hernandez Jr (brother). She is survived by both her daughters Miriam Galvez and Lisette Garcia and her only son, Carmelo Gonzalez Jr. Her nephew and niece, Daniel and Jackie Hernandez. Leonardo Garcia (son in law) Grandchildren; Vanessa Galvez, Anthony Gonzalez, Alina Galvez, Cynthia Gonzalez, Alyssa Garcia, Nicolas Gonzalez, Amaya Garcia, Karli Galvez, Leo Garcia, Analisse Gonzalez. Great grandchildren; Tomas Gurrola, Maleck Salcedo, Nicholas Gurrola, Avyanna Gurrola, and Asher Gonzalez and lastly, her puppy, Precious Bevilacqua.