Ana (Grujic) Guzina was born June 15, 1941, in the small mountain hamlet of Cerovo, Montenegro.  On January 3, 2024, Ana passed away in Burlington, Ontario, surrounded by family, after suffering a massive stroke on December 26, 2023. She is survived by her husband, Veljko; her brothers Cedomir and Stevo; her children, Danilo, Sava, and Petar; her six grandchildren, Tatiana, Iliya, Aleksandar, Nikolas, Maksim, and Vesna; and her two great grandchildren, Filip and Dominik.

According to Ana, her earliest memory was that of being held by her mother, Ilinka, while a German soldier stomped inside their house demanding more 'rakija'.

After the war ended, the men of the house, who had been at war--her father, Novica, and grandfather Mitar--had retreated to Canada, unable to return to communist Yugoslavia.

So with her mother, Ilinka, Ana helped at a young age to take care of her paternal grandmother who refused to travel to Canada.

And that was to become a dominant role for Ana's life: that of caregiver.

When her paternal grandmother finally died in 1954, Ana and her mother were at last able to go to Canada to reunite with her father, Novica, and grandfather Mitar. However, by 1955, out of seven children, Ana was the only child who was under the age of sixteen--the only child who was allowed to leave Yugoslavia. So Ana and her mother were forced to leave behind six siblings and children, respectively. This was a traumatic and heartbreaking event, but it was one that Ana was determined to rectify in the future.

Once in Canada, Ana was given the responsibility of taking care of her grandfather while her mother and father went to work. With time her grandfather Mitar became more and more infirm so that Ana's caretaking involved cleaning her grandfather after he had been on the toilet. These were truly heavy responsibilities for a fourteen year-old girl.

Not long after Ana's arrival in Canada her parents arranged a marriage for her. As Ana said, "I was young and I trusted my parents. I didn't know better."

The marriage lasted only a year or so, long enough for Ana, at the age of fifteen, to give birth  to a son, Danilo. But soon after she divorced her husband. Keeping in mind that this was the 1950's, Ana displayed amazing gumption, strength, and fortitude to know her mind and to be strong enough to divorce her husband.

So in the late 1950's, while tackling a new language and country, Ana took responsibility of caring not only for her child but also for her parents, who were slow to adapt to Canada.

With Ana's rapid grasp of and facility with English, it became apparent to her parents that Ana would be able to get a better job than either of them.  So she got out and hustled, lying about her education to find employment, and God bless her for that lie. It placed much needed food on the table.

In 1968, Ana and her son went back to the old country for a visit. Danilo was eleven at the time and thought that this was just a trip to reconnect with aunts, uncles, and cousins. But it was much more.

Ana, the youngest and smallest of the seven siblings, was going back to organize the escape of her siblings and their families from Yugoslavia, going back to rectify that heartbreaking split. She was only twenty-seven at the time, yet she undertook the responsibility of clandestinely selling the farm--literally--organizing her brothers and sisters and their families, and instructing them how to coordinate their escape from Yugoslavia. She was the youngest and smallest but, my God, she was the most tenacious.

Eventually Ana married again in 1970. In due time, two children were born, her daughter Sava and her son Petar, both born in 1973. And yet again, she quickly adapted and juggled her role as mother, wife, dutiful daughter, and breadwinner. She successfully managed a broody teenage boy, raised two new children, and took care of her aging parents, all while working full time and running the household.

Ana was a veritable dynamo.

By the late 1970s, the health of her mother, Ilinka, and father, Novica, were in decline, adding yet more stress on her caretaking duties. Nonetheless, she persevered in her role as wife, mother, caregiver, and breadwinner.

Later on, when grandchildren arrived, she was more than eager to be a caregiver. Nothing gave her more joy than to be with and care for her grandchildren.

In 2002, Ana was diagnosed with breast cancer. Had someone said at that time that Ana would live to the age of 82, most would have been in disbelief. But despite the arduous chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Ana always displayed tremendous love and joy for her grandchildren.

Cancer took a heavy toll on Ana, but she battled it with incredible courage, insisting that Marko and Sava proceed with their wedding plans and that she would be there to celebrate with them. And she was true to her word.

Sadly, in the last few years, her husband Veljko's health began to fade due to Parkinson's disease. So yet again Ana was called to the role of caregiver and answered as best she could.

But time takes its toll on all of us. At the age of eighty-two, it was too much for Ana to be performing the same duties that she carried out at the age of fourteen for her grandfather Mitar. Perhaps Ana felt like she had failed, as unreasonable as that sounds. But she didn't fail; all of us know that she tried her best.

Finally, to Ana's six beautiful grandchildren: Know that your grandmother's love was pure. Remember that sometimes a friend may lash out at you; sometimes a sibling may lash out you; sometimes your parents may lash out at you. But your grandmother will never even raise her voice to you.

That is the memory you should have of your grandmother, your wonderful Baba.

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