With some of her grandparents gone, this Ontario graduate is honouring the stories of other seniors

When Sofia Palma Florido was choosing what to pursue for a research grant while studying at McMaster University, she knew she wanted to highlight Latin American stories in Hamilton.

What she didn't realize was that she would also end up honouring her grandparents in the process.

"My maternal grandmother was a wonderful Colombian woman with a heart overwhelmed with generosity. She did not receive a formal education but had an incredible memory, remembering nearly everything about everyone she met. I believe this gift allowed her to make everyone in her life feel all the more special," Palma Florido said.

"My paternal grandmother grew up in New Jersey and returned to her father's home country of Honduras after boarding school. She was a woman of many stories and unparalleled resilience."

With most of her grandparents now gone, Palma Florido set out to document the stories of older people and found the project was a way to give back to seniors in her community.

"I don't have access to that listening space with them anymore, so if I can give somebody else's grandparents that listening space, I'll do it."

Palma Florido's project, Calling Home: Oral histories of Latin American older immigrants in Hamilton, captured the stories of five seniors living in the city, and was "rooted in a community's desire to share and pass on oral histories to the next generations."

She spent five months putting it together, conducting, translating and analyzing interviews. 

"That idea came from my interactions with the Asociación Fraternidad Hispana (AFH)," she said. 

"One of the initiatives that they have is Cafecitos, where they meet at either a community centre or a gym, and it's just a space for elders to have coffee and share stories."

AFH is a non-profit organization based in Hamilton that looks to support Latin American immigrants in the community.

Palma Florido said the purpose of her project was to demonstrate that "every life deserves honouring."

"There are [stories] that that are more epic and had more struggles than others, but there's also that quiet struggle of people who came here in their 20s to study, who fell in love and who started their lives somewhat easily but [were] trying to fit into to a world that wasn't made for them," she said.

As her project progressed, Palma Florido said she found herself getting emotional with her interview subjects.