Natalia Hilda Rodriguez de Bernard

Natalia was raised in Havana, Cuba. She married Antonio Rogelio Pruna in 1968. She was a Librarian at National Library of Habana where she worked for more than 30 years.

In her spare time, she enjoyed spending time with her family. Being around her loved ones was at the core of her soul. She always had that beautiful smile, and she filled with joy and happiness everything she touched.

She was passionate about life and brought positive energy even in the darkest hours. We are glad to say she lived life to its fullest.We will never forget her, by crying her death we are celebrating her life, the memory of her kindness, her firmness and courage. Those attributes will be living in us forever; on the ones she knew and loved. As I would say to her “You will always find us, and we will always find you.”

I give thanks to God or life itself for allowing me to be at her side. It is hard to believe what she did for us as a family. We survived together the unthinkable any family could go through; and still, she prevailed and fought hard to keep us sane and healthy.

While talking to her I used to notice her wish to cry, but she never did because she knew that would break my heart and that is something she would never do. We spent so many years without seeing each other in person; it makes me wonder why life sometimes is so unfair. Her love for her children was unbreakable. She was always our real iron lady.

Her family and friends will always remember her as the mother who gave it all for the happiness of the family, who taught her children to be strong no matter the circumstances.

My mother will always be with us in many ways. She will be in the whisper of the leaves as we walk on the streets, in the smell of certain foods that are familiar, in the flowers I will pick, in the fragrance itself.

She is the cool hand in my brow when I am not feeling well, the breath in the air on a cold winter’s day, the sound of the rain that will help me sleep, the colors of a rainbow, she is Christmas’ morning. She lives inside my laughter and is the place I came from, my first home; she is the map I follow with every step I take. Nothing in this world can separate us, no time, no space…. not even death.

She is preceded in death by: Her parents Jose Maria Rodriguez Gonzalez and Natalia De Bernard Heydrich, by her husband Antonio Rogelio Pruna Valmanna and her son Antonio Jose Pruna Rodriguez.

Survived by: Her sister Ana Carmen Rodriguez de Bernard; and her sons Ernesto Pruna Rodriguez and Alejandro Pruna Rodriguez.