Courtesy Alicia Salas(RICHMOND, Texas) — One grandmother in Texas always celebrated her birthday with a mariachi band. But after her husband passed away seven years ago, there were no more mariachi bands — until this year.
Josie Reza, of Richmond, Texas, turned 85 last Monday and celebrated with dozens of family and friends. This birthday was even more memorable for Reza.
“At her birthday parties, she would always have a mariachi band,” her granddaughter Alicia Salas told ABC News. “This year … it was the first time she had [a band perform] since my grandfather passed away.”
“When the mariachi band first came out, my grandmother pulled my uncle to the side and she asked him to go inside the house,” Salas, 18, recalled.
Reza asked him to retrieve a portrait of herself with her late husband, Phillip. They were married for 45 years before he died 2009.
Salas explained that her grandmother wanted “a little piece of him. It was a bittersweet moment because she was sad but happy at the same time.”
The teen took two photos of her grandmother clutching the portrait and shared them on Twitter. The photos quickly went viral.
Along with inspiring the internet, Salas said her grandparents’ love has also inspired her.
The teen told ABC News that the moment reminded her “that there’s someone out there for everybody.”
“Their love still goes on even if one of them is not here,” Salas added. “I think that’s so beautiful to me.”
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