Tita Peña opens her heart to tell us how she overcame the loss of her great love, her mother, and at the same time, found consolation again with the arrival of two new loves in her life, her dogs Coco and Pacheco.

"The passing of my Mom completely changed my life. One of the most shocking moments of my life and any human being is when the word Cancer knocks on the door of your life, especially if it involves your mother," Tita says. "The being I loved the most was diagnosed with Brain Cancer, which then became Metastasis in just 6 months. The idea of losing my mom began to steal my peace, my dreams. A fear began to dominate, millions of unanswered questions started bombarding every minute of your day. No one is prepared for something like this. I had to say goodbye to Mom at just 54 years old."

However, in this moment of darkness and pain, Coco and Pacheco, her two Jack Russells, entered her life and changed everything. "I was never attracted to dogs before," Tita confesses, but after the arrival of Coco, a gift from her father during her mother's illness. She remembers that moment. "I looked at my dad and said, seriously?? A dog now?? But very quickly, Tita realized the impact this gift had on her life.

"Sure, nothing can replace the life and presence of a Mom, but God always takes care to show His love in a thousand ways, and my dogs meant that in my life. Not long after, after Coco had a puppy, 'Pacheco,' Tita's perspective completely changed. The presence of her dogs gave her a reason to smile again and helped her face her sadness. "They become another member of your family, they don't speak but they have feelings. If you enter your house 50 times, 50 times they are happy to see you. They expect nothing from you, their love is unconditional. Looking at this now I ask myself why I didn't get one sooner."

"When my Mom passed away many things that went with your loved one and the zest for life weren't there anymore like before. You start to feel alone in a constant way and I didn't realize that I had two 'stickers' beside me," she says referring to Coco and Pacheco

"They distracted me and took me out of reality a bit. They needed me. They helped me sleep a little more peacefully because when death shows its face, your nights can be longer. I had to go out for walks with them and that helped me connect with nature and calmed my anxiety. Many times in the most beautiful places of my Island walking with my dogs I had to sit down and cry out my mom's passing and Coco and Pacheco were there with me, without being able to say a word, without being able to hug me, but their gaze was more than enough."

What we have now, yesterday has already passed, there's nothing we can do with what was left behind and tomorrow is not guaranteed for anyone. So what we have is a great gift and it is our present! Laugh more, complicate less, be grateful every day, love in every way you can and please forgive quickly... My Mom Lily's loss (My Angel In Heaven) and my two Doggies Coco and Pacheco taught me that!