Gloria Estefan's mother Gloria Fajardo dies at 88: 'I will miss her every moment of every day'

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Gloria Estefan is mourning the death of her mother Gloria Fajardo. The Cuban singer announced on Tuesday evening that her 88-year-old mom passed away peacefully surrounded by family and close friends. “Tonight at 8:19 pm we lost my beloved mother, the inimitable Gloria Fajardo," Gloria penned alongside a photo of her mom sandwiched between two friends.

Gloria's mother died on June 13 surrounded by family and friends Photo: Instagram/@gloriaestefan

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“She went peacefully surrounded by her daughters, grandchildren, son-in-laws, niece, three loving caregivers, extended family and her most trusted friends, very especially, the two beautiful ladies in each side in this picture, Carmen Corpion & Clara Bris. They were an integral part of her posse not only throughout her life but to her last breath,” the 59-year-old musician continued. “I know it was exactly the way she would have wanted her departure from this earth to be, surrounded by love and the true representations of everyone that was special to her in life.”

A post shared by Gloria Estefan (@gloriaestefan) on Jun 13, 2017 at 9:27pm PDT

Gloria noted that the time of her mother’s death is significant in their family. The Rhythm Is Gonna Get You singer explained, “I know she chose the very moment, 8:19, because her beloved mother had died on 8/19 thirty-two years ago and she wanted to make sure that we got the message that she was with our beloved grandmother, Abuela Consuelo and my loving father, Jose Manuel.”

She added, “I will miss her every moment of every day and I thank her for being the incredible mother, woman and role model that she was to so many people. Thank you for your prayers and messages, and the love and concern that filled our hearts and accompanied us throughout this most difficult time.”

#Repost @emily_estefan (@get_repost) ・・・ Anyone who has been touched by the light of Gloria Fajardo is privileged. Privileged. Something that I can spell, pronounce, and define because of Gloria Fajardo. Define as a student, with the aid of a dictionary that Abuela gave me before I could even write my name. And define as the daughter and granddaughter of immigrants. Selfless warriors who sacrificed everything for me to be able to flip the pages of the dictionary and press my nose inside and smell what freedom smells like in between "aardvark" and "zyzzogeton". Everyday that Abuela has been in the hospital my incredible mother and aunt stand tirelessly at her bedside hour after hour, while we all come in and out to collect and dole out our love. Using our souls as a channel, we cover her in all of your incredible prayers and good energy. From my entire family/friends to you, thank you for the good thoughts. And in the end, everyone who loves Abuela ends up being family because that's the kind of person that she is. She brings people together in faith, love, laughter, freedom, and so many other ways that I would gladly sacrifice my time to explain. Te quiero abuelita. We are all here for you, we all love you, and are anxiously awaiting our next rap while we cover you in light. To everyone out there continuing to pray, in whichever way you do, thank you. We love you. Please keep them coming ❤️

A post shared by Gloria Estefan (@gloriaestefan) on May 31, 2017 at 2:07pm PDT

Over the last few weeks, Gloria and her daughter Emily posted about the family’s matriarch being in the hospital, while asking for prayers. Emilio Estefan’s wife went on to thank fans for their support in her emotional post writing, “Please know that at every moment, I let her know about the love and light that was being sent to her and she appreciated and absorbed every beautiful sentiment. Thank you for keeping us in your hearts and gently holding our hands.”