Gloria Estefan is in mourning today for the loss of her mother, Gloria Fajardo, who died Tuesday night after an illness. She was 88.
Estefan had been posting on Instagram regularly about her mother's health, sharing requests for prayers and understanding; her daughter Emily also posted photos of her beloved abuela.
Though Fajardo had been ill, clearly Estefan had not realized the end was so near: she recently canceled a July 15 concert due to her mother's illness.
In the post announcing Fajardo's death (here it is in Spanish), Estefan noted that the timing coincided with the time Fajardo's own mother had passed 32 years earlier.
As the Miami Herald reported, Fajardo brought Estefan over from Cuba when they fled that country after the Cuban Revolution. Estefan went on to become an internationally-famous musician whose story was most recently told in the Broadway musical "On Your Feet."
Emily's posts about her abuela had actually garnered the older woman a bit of a fan following as "Rapuela" — because she would rap in them!
Clearly, talent and performing ran in the family.
Farewell, Gloria Fajardo.
Follow Randee Dawn on Twitter.