Grandfather’s posthumous gift to granddaughter hit Twitter and went viral | the Chronicle

After the death of a loved one, it is not strange to feel that they are always with us. The memory reappears their voices, their little habits, even a perfume; details that make us feel less alone. But this grandfather from Alicante, Spain left more than a memory to accompany his granddaughter in the first anniversary after your death.

Cristina Simó, the protagonist of this moving story, shared from her story Twitter the last gift his grandfather, Juan, left him. As he recounted in the viral beak, his grandfather gave him a book on his birthday, a tradition that began since she learned to read. The book lover did not forget the custom even in his last days, and left his granddaughter one last book before leaving:

“My grandfather gave me a book for my birthday every year since I learned to read. Today we celebrated my first birthday without him and what I least expected was receive the last book I ordered. Well, he bought it and left it hidden before he died. And today they gave it to me“Cris wrote on her birthday.

The story resonated with thousands of social network users and the tweet gathered over 247 thousand likes, 13.2 thousand retweets and hundreds of emotional comments. Internet users thanked the young woman for the tender story, shared their own memories with their close reading enthusiasts and assured that they were not crying, they only had something in their eyes.

“Books saved my grandparents’ lives”

Thanking the attention and good wishes that came to her thanks to the viral moment, Cris decided share the incredible life of your grandfather to a thread that quickly went viral. Born in Alcoy in 1932, Juan had access to education from an early age thanks to his father, who ran his own university in the city.

Fearing reprisals from the Spanish Civil War, Juan’s father isolated his family. Locked in your house until his adolescence, Juan used books to travel the world from your room. History, geography, languages, mathematics; according to Cris, “my grandfather made books his best friends“.

Years of reading made him infinitely wise, and the perfect tutor for the young woman during her elementary and middle school years. “A few years ago I was studying for a chemistry test I had the next day. I did not understand and on the internet I did not find the clarification that I needed“Cris called back. “I remember as if it was yesterday, my grandfather called me at dawn, in a sleepy voice, and with all the patience in the world he resolved my doubts. It was my grandfather“.

The story continues for several tweets, recounting its forbidden love story with whom she became his wife for over 50 years and her fascination with mathematics: “He did it until the end, with 89 yearsCris pointed to a picture of his grandfather, leaning over a table, concentrating on a math problem.

The thread ends with the voice of Juan himself, an encouraging message to your granddaughter when it started the career of mathematics encouraged by the passion her grandfather inspired in her since she was little: “In the future, the history of mathematics will tell “the great names of mathematics: Alchemides, Newton, Einstein and Cristina Simó‘“.