Tuesday, October 6, 2009
I knew a lady once. She was quite old.
This lady had a very strong temperament, if you crossed her you would surely get in trouble.
She was the kind of person who could share words of wisdom one day and totally forget where she left her crane the next.
This lady was my grandmother.
Her name was Modesta which means modesty, oh how I loved her.
Back in Peru, in the rural parts to be precise, women are expected to be housebound. They are to cook for their husbands, clean, wash, and care for the house altogether. My grandmother was taught that she must follow this path (somewhat) and teach her offsprings the same.
Now that didn't settle too good with me. Being a rebel child, I refused to believe that my purpose in this life was to marry a man who would expect me to be his server. I couldn't accept that.
Countless times while sitting by her cooking fire pit she tried to lure me into learning how to cook and countless times I declined.
Little did I know I would soon regret that.
I left the country when I was eighteen, I made her promise me that she would wait for me and that we would rejoin very soon.
Life had other plans though and a few months after I left she passed away.
My world collapsed, my little old lady had left me, all I could think about was that she broke her promise, she didn't wait for me. How dare she!
After things settled better in my head I soon realized what I had lost. Not only did I lose some one important in my life but I had also lost all the knowledge she wanted to pass down to me. It wasn't only the cooking bits I missed, I also missed learning how to knit, how to boil clothing to make those stubborn stains on clothing disappear. I also missed out on acquiring her business expertise because believe it or not she has been self employed since she was nine years old.
It was only when she was gone that I realized that regardless of the reasons she had, I should have still tried to go along with her teachings. What she wanted was for me to be prepared for the world, to have life skills that would help me be self sufficient and why not, be a good wife.
I did manage to learn a few bits from her while sitting on the single step in our front door. She would tell me stories of her life and her accomplishments. She used to be a midwife you know. She was also a restaurateur and her very first job involved selling candy from a very small briefcase just to afford school supplies.
I will never get the chance to learn from her again, I regret that deeply, but I have made peace with myself knowing that what little I did take from her will be enough to be the kind of person she would have wanted me to be.
This lady had a very strong temperament, if you crossed her you would surely get in trouble.
She was the kind of person who could share words of wisdom one day and totally forget where she left her crane the next.
This lady was my grandmother.
Her name was Modesta which means modesty, oh how I loved her.
Back in Peru, in the rural parts to be precise, women are expected to be housebound. They are to cook for their husbands, clean, wash, and care for the house altogether. My grandmother was taught that she must follow this path (somewhat) and teach her offsprings the same.
Now that didn't settle too good with me. Being a rebel child, I refused to believe that my purpose in this life was to marry a man who would expect me to be his server. I couldn't accept that.
Countless times while sitting by her cooking fire pit she tried to lure me into learning how to cook and countless times I declined.
Little did I know I would soon regret that.
I left the country when I was eighteen, I made her promise me that she would wait for me and that we would rejoin very soon.
Life had other plans though and a few months after I left she passed away.
My world collapsed, my little old lady had left me, all I could think about was that she broke her promise, she didn't wait for me. How dare she!
After things settled better in my head I soon realized what I had lost. Not only did I lose some one important in my life but I had also lost all the knowledge she wanted to pass down to me. It wasn't only the cooking bits I missed, I also missed learning how to knit, how to boil clothing to make those stubborn stains on clothing disappear. I also missed out on acquiring her business expertise because believe it or not she has been self employed since she was nine years old.
It was only when she was gone that I realized that regardless of the reasons she had, I should have still tried to go along with her teachings. What she wanted was for me to be prepared for the world, to have life skills that would help me be self sufficient and why not, be a good wife.
I did manage to learn a few bits from her while sitting on the single step in our front door. She would tell me stories of her life and her accomplishments. She used to be a midwife you know. She was also a restaurateur and her very first job involved selling candy from a very small briefcase just to afford school supplies.
I will never get the chance to learn from her again, I regret that deeply, but I have made peace with myself knowing that what little I did take from her will be enough to be the kind of person she would have wanted me to be.
Labels:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment