Abuela Claudia

Abuela Claudia was the matriarch of the barrio, raising Usnavi after his parents died and becoming a surrogate grandmother to many people in the barrio. S

, has long been a part of Washington Heights, as said in Everything I Know, "If it happened on this block Abuela was there." She died in the second act of In The Heights (Atencion).

Life & Death
Claudia was born in La Vibora, Havana, Cuba, probably in the early to mid 1930's considering she remembers quite clearly moving to New York in December of 1943 when her mother, who could not find any jobs in La Vibora, decided to try to find work in New York. Both she and her mother eventually found jobs as maids, "scrubbing the whole of the Upper East Side." (Paciencia Y Fe). She stayed in Washington Heights for the rest of her life.

In the events of the show, Abuela is shown to have won the lottery July 3, presumably in 2008 (Paciencia Y Fe) and thus the much coveted $96,000. She decides to split the money with Usnavi and Sonny, each earning $32,000. She and Usnavi decide to go to his parent's old home at Playa Rincon in the Dominican Republic and open a bar on the beach's shore (Hundreds of Stories). However, she died on the fourth of July at noon (Atencion), a result of the intense heat, her neglecting her medication, and her overall age and health. An impromptu service was held later that afternoon (Alabanza). Her death greatly affects everyone, convincing Nina to return to Stanford University. In addition, Graffiti Pete's mural of her, which he was hired by Sonny to paint overnight on Usnavi's bodega's grate, overall convinced Usnavi to stay and tell the stories of her and the barrio. Her legacy lives on in Washington, and her stoop is there to serve a reminder of her to all who once knew her. "Abuela, that ain't a stoop that's your throne!" (Finale).