Eva Mendes shares an adorable Christmas throwback and a sweet story of her hardworking mom

Eva Mendes is reminiscing. The Cuban-American actress shared a photo on her Instgram, showing her as a child enjoying Christmas, surrounded by dolls and a Christmas tree. In the caption, Mendes shared some stories of her youth and the magic of the holidays.

The photo shows Mendes when she was little, dressed in red overalls and smiling brightly for the camera. In it, she holds a doll and is standing next to other toys and Barbies. She’s flanked by a Christmas tree, decorated with lights, and elves. “Little me in the ‘80s at Christmas,” she captioned the post.

“We were paycheck to paycheck -at best - but my Mami always went all out for me on Xmas morning. My older siblings were also part of the magic. Since they were way beyond their Santa years then, when I look back now, I realize how they all did their part in making it magical for me. Im so grateful,” she wrote.

Mendes also shared a touching message for her elder brother, Juan Carlos Méndez Jr, who passed away in 2016 from throat cancer. “I miss my brother. The last Christmas I had with him was a few years ago when he did something only a big brother could do. I’ll leave that sweet story for another post. Anyway, I saw this pic this morning and felt like sharing. Lotsa love.”

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Mendes on the loss of her brother

Juan Carlos passed away in April of 2016. A few days later, Mendes gave birth to her second daughter, Amada. "Losing my brother brought our family closer, and we were already close to begin with," she said in an interview with Latina Magazine. "So to just see everybody be there for one another and show up, I feel so lucky to have them."

Mendes described the experience of her brother’s death and the birth of her second daughter as “really intense.” "We had a funeral service for him and that same week I had the baby. It was really, really intense and obviously beyond heartbreaking, but also kind of beautiful,” she said.