Ileana Merino passed away on Mother’s Day in 2016. Her granddaughter, Jessica Comellas, said it’s just like her Nana to want to make a grand exit.
Merino’s life was marked by love for her family and music. Merino, a classically trained pianist, learned piano under the tutelage of her aunts in Cuba. She graduated from El Conservatorio de Musica de la Habana in 1953 and shortly thereafter began teaching private lessons. In 1973, she opened Ileana Merino Piano Studio in Miami Lakes where she taught and lived for over 40 years.
Merino raised up the next generations of her family under a musical rule – all children and grandchildren had to take piano lessons at some in their childhood. Comellas was the only grandchild that stuck with it.
“I would sit on her lap while she taught her piano lessons and instead of crying or fussing, I sat very content in Nana’s arms,” said Comellas. “By the time I was three years old, I was able to sit at the piano and play by myself and I’ve been playing ever since.”
Merino, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2012, passed down her studio to Comellas who had just earned her bachelor’s degree in music. It was renamed Generations Studio, an homage to the musical matriarchal generations that led to its inception.
Through the obstacles the family endured while caring for their grandmother, Comellas’ mother, Maria, encouraged all the children and grandchildren to get involved with Walk for Alzheimer’s. However, the Alzheimer’s Association’s event “The Longest Day” proved to be a better fit for the family to raise funds while honoring their grandmother’s love of music.
“The Longest Day” is scheduled to take place on the summer solstice, June 21, which is the longest day of the year with a full 16 hours of sunlight. This aptly named event symbolizes the challenging journey those living with the disease and their caregivers must go through.
Comellas, along with her mother and family, began their group for “The Longest Day,” named #baNANApianorama, a practice-a-thon where the piano is played for hours on end while raising funds for the Alzheimer’s Association. The second event was held just one week after Merino’s passing at the Don Shula’s Hotel lobby and has continued on this year to continue raising funds with no plans to end. This year the family raised $1,000 on site on May 6.
“I hope to keep Nana’s spirit alive and make her proud,” said Comellas. “Music is the unbreakable bond between us. Music is spending hours and hours at a time trying to memorize Rhapsody in Blue that we played together on two pianos and ending the night dancing and singing in pure delirium. Music is the peace that surrounded her when her spirit was finally free from the disease. Music is my fight to end Alzheimer’s one note at a time. But most importantly, music is Nana and the piano is home.”
To join the #baNANApianorama team and donate visit http://act.alz.org/goto/baNANApianorama.