Alejandra Teran

Alejandra Torres Teran was known by many, most knew her by Nana or Hana. Hana was born on August 15th,1940 in Powell, Wyoming to her parents Jesus Torres and Cayetana Nieto. Hana was the second to youngest out of their eight children. Her parents were from Mexico but they travelled often looking for work, in the brief time that they lived in Idaho she attended school up until the third grade then went to work as a migrant worker with her dad and grandpa. Hana liked to play baseball with her friends and family as a teenager, she wasn't one to smoke or drink. While working in the fields of Idaho, it was there she met Carlos Martinez Teran who the family knew as Tata. They were friends, talked a little but never too much because Hana's parents were not aware of their relationship. Finally, Carlos took Hana on their first date to the movies, but little did they know that her dad was following close after them. Her dad knew that she would eventually marry Carlos so he gave them his blessing to marry. Soon after, Hana and Carlos eloped.

Hana and Carlos lived in Eagle Pass, Texas but were seasonal workers in Idaho, California, New Mexico and Arizona. Together they had Nine children; Ramon, Carlos Jr, Ricardo, Sylvia, Israel, Gabriel and Daniel. Hana and Carlos had another son after Carlos Jr but unfortunately he passed after birth and led to the name of their following son Rick. They worked in the fields and picked watermelon, onions, potatoes, and grapes just to name a few. Hana’s parents eventually settled in Chandler, Arizona while her siblings left to start their families in other parts of the Country. Hana and Carlos Sr followed after her parents and lived on a ranch in Chandler Heights for about 5 years. Finally they found their forever home in Chandler on Kesler Lane right near her moms then home. In 1988, she started working at Piston Powers where she worked for approximately 10 years. After falling and breaking her wrist she decided to stay home and become a housewife. Her kids would wake up every morning to the smell of freshly made tortillas as she would prepare everyone “tacos” …which were really burritos. Years later The City of Chandler wanted to renovate their home numerous times but she would tell them no every time because she had so many memories at the house with Carlos Sr. and their family. Hana used to tell family members that she didn't want the city of chandler to take down the trees Carlos Sr. had planted and grown. Hana wanted her house to always be a place for the family to gather.

Hana has 20 grandkids 46 great grandchildren and 1 great grandkid. Their family is so big that there were 3 grandkids born 12 days apart! She would get confused sometimes with all the grandkids' names and often ask Andrea’s kids “Which one are you?” and scramble for their names. And even though she complained about having dogs at the house she had her own fur babies in her life like Bucky, Hefty, Browny, Oso and Tiger. She loved having them there for her protection over all. Hana’s house was always unlocked since she had so many visitors throughout the week including her kids stopping by at least 3-4 times a day or even more. She spent many hours on the phone talking to her kids, friends and family. The Love she shared with her children will be missed the most. If her kids didn’t stop by, or call her, she would call them upset and ask “Por que no me as hablado” (why haven’t you called me) . She would always ask them if they had gone to work and if they didn’t, why not? Her boys always kept her on her toes and showed her countlessly how much they loved her. She always knew everything that was going on even before you could tell her. It was always hard to keep secrets from her. When her family visited you could find her giving her grandkids coffee and pan dulce every morning. She’d also make you eggs and beans, with tortillas of course, and who could forget her homemade hot salsa. If you told her you weren’t hungry she would say “You are getting too skinny” so she would make you a plate. As soon as you were done eating, she was already in the kitchen washing the dishes. She was always cleaning and sweeping the house but constantly sweeping the sidewalk right outside her home. Carlos Sr had told her that when she passes, she will be coming back just to sweep. Hana could always be found sitting out on the patio with her family, but if she wasn't, which was rare, she enjoyed going to her grandkids baseball games, shopping at her favorite stores like Ross or JcPenney's and eating at her favorite restaurants like Someburros or Denny's. Every weekend and every holiday you could find the Teran family gathering at her house eating her food, drinking beers while the brothers talk crap to each other. She enjoyed cooking Menudo, Posole, Red Chili con papas, green chili, nopales, etc. She loved having everyone at her home.

Hana was a very simple lady. She didn’t wear makeup but she always made sure her hair was done with a headband and wrapped up using bobby pins. Hana would get her hair permed and colored for special occasions only. Sometimes she would tear off a piece of a hair dye label and put it in her purse, this way she knew what kind to buy the next time she wanted Crystal, Gabby, Myrna or Marissa to color her hair. She only trusted these women with her hair. She wore colored blouses with different patterns and had finally found comfortable shoes to wear that she had “Nikki” (Marissa) buy for her online. It was always difficult to figure out what would be a great gift for her since she didn’t like flowers and was extremely picky. Although she would accept your gift she would end up giving it to someone else later. She loved purses and cardigans but no matter how many stores you took her to, she could not find one that she liked. Don't be fooled though,she was a strong and independent lady too. She underwent heart surgery and had her leg amputated due to diabetes. She never wanted anyone to see her without her prosthetic leg and never wanted to use her wheelchair. She didn’t want anyone to see her hurting. When asked how she was doing, she would always say, “I’m fine” even though it was clear she wasn’t. Hana told Nikki in June of 2020 that she wanted a big party at her house like the old times with everyone there to help celebrate with her, her big 80th birthday. Before they could start planning, everything turned for the worst and Hana began to fall ill in early July. She went to the hospital twice fighting COVID-19 and pneumonia. She is a Teran and was strong and fought for as long as she could till she lost her battle to COVID-19 and met Carlos Sr once again in heaven on July 24th, 2020. Unfortunately A few days later on July 27th 2020 Carlos Jr. joined his mom and dad in heaven. Even though this is not what the family thought they would be planning, this is the big party that she wanted. She is happy and smiling down on us all because she is not alone.

As Hana would always say “hasta manana, si dios quiere”.