If you were in Orlando on Christmas Day and felt the ground shake at 11:05pm, it wasn't a routine rocket launch, but the soul of Teresa Tomas Diaz ascending to the next plane of existence. She passed peacefully and surrounded by family after 90 short years on this earth.

Born in Cuba in 1935, Maria Teresa Amparo Tomas y Gallegos was a force of nature. She marched to the beat of her own drum and refused to be defined by cultural constraints.  Impulsive, energetic, and naturally skeptical of authority, little Teresa gave her mother – and the humorless nuns at school – a run for their money.

As a young woman, Teresa attended the University of Havana, then married and had her first and only child, Manuel (Manny) Francisco Diaz, at the age of 21. The Diaz family raised their son in Miramar, a beautiful Havana neighborhood along the coast, very close to Teresa's parents, Bernardo and Beba, as well as extended family. Life was good, for a while.

Then came the Cuban Revolution. Teresa saw friends and family thrown in prison for crimes they didn't commit. The new regime was working very hard to control its subjects, but Teresa refused to succumb to fear. She wanted a different future for her family.

Teresa escaped Havana in 1961, immigrating to New York City with her toddler and parents in tow. She soon landed a job and gradually built a new life in the United States, working for 57 years in various fields, including running her own business in the 70s.  But Teresa's life was about much more than work. She maintained a close circle of friends.

She loved opera and Cuban coffee and lounging by the pool. She always had to have the latest tech gadget and was a lifelong cinephile with a DVD library that rivaled Blockbuster's.  In midlife, Teresa fell in love with photography. She dove into her new hobby wholeheartedly, buying all the latest camera gear and even setting up a dark room in her house. Teresa's portfolio ranged from artistic portraiture to action shots of her son performing in karate tournaments. Her photos won many awards over the years.

Teresa was deeply spiritual. Raised Catholic, she had a personal relationship with God, seeing little signs from the other side every day. Teresa's faith afforded her an immutable trust in life.  She always felt things work out exactly as they're meant to. "Que será, será," was her driving philosophy. Whatever will be, will be.

Now, Teresa's unshakable faith is bringing comfort to her family. She is survived by her son, Manny, grandsons, Mike and Jeff, and great-granddaughters, Carsyn and Scarlett. She will be missed.