On the east side of San Jose, Calif., there is an abuela who seems to have more grandchildren than she can count.
“A lot of people see me and they hug me,” Mardonia Galeana, 89, said in Spanish. “I don’t even know them, but sometimes they ask me for a blessing on the street and I do the best I can on their forehead.”
Her likeness has been featured in a painting in the San José Museum of Art and in a mural in the city’s mission district. But it’s her online presence that has captivated the thousands of people who have come across the photos and videos posted by her grandson Yosimar Reyes.
“Seeing your Abuela smiling and having a good time truly warms my heart,” one user commented beneath a video of Ms. Galeana enjoying herself at a senior center while others danced to a track by the merengue singer Elvis Crespo.
Mr. Reyes has been chronicling moments in his grandmother’s life on a private Instagram account followed by more than 21,000 people. His posts have shown a trip they took to New Orleans, their strolls with his dog, Chulito, around the San Jose Flea Market, and occasional doctor visits.
Although Mr. Reyes calls himself Ms. Galeana’s “personal stylist,” he is first and foremost her caregiver — driving her to appointments, managing her medications, making sure she has a roof over her head.
“I take pride in the fact that I care for and dress my grandma,” Mr. Reyes, 35, said. “That she’s not going to be out here in a muumuu. Her nails are also poppin’ and it’s a big self-esteem boost for her.”
Francesca Falzarano, an assistant professor at the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, has a term for the growing number of people like Mr. Reyes who share behind-the-scenes looks at the daily realities of providing round-the-clock care for older loved ones.
“In my research lab, we call them ‘carefluencers,’” Professor Falzarano said. “Social media is really the only way a lot of these people are able to access support, education and a sense of belonging.”
Mr. Reyes, a poet and artist, was raised by his grandparents and came with them to the United States from Guerrero, Mexico, in the early 1990s. “Even as a kid, I was already a caregiver,” he said. “I had to translate documents and help my grandparents navigate this country because they were older and didn’t speak English.”
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