Today is my Grandmother's 82nd birthday! This woman has seen and experienced so much in her 82 years of living. She's kind, sweet, fierce, strong and when necessary, ruthless. She has more energy in her little 5 ft body than I do. I think I'm being kind when I say she's 5 ft tall, however.
I believe I owe a great many of my personality traits to my Grandmother. Some of them are probably by way of my Mom, but we all come from, Rose. She's been married to my Grandfather for 62 or 63 years now and that is an accomplishment in itself. I love that they will still complain about one another! He says she does nothing but nag, nag, nag and she says he gets on her nerves. It's all comical to me.
She raised 5 children of her own and countless neighborhood children. She has 8 grandchildren (me being the oldest) and 2 great grandchildren. She got her first job at the Mervyn's behind their house at the young age of 50. She used to pass out the numbers in the dressing room. She eventually retired from there! Every day she would walk to work and if it was late when she'd get off, my Grandpa would meet her there or their old dog, Tidus. It was the cutest because my Grandpa would tell Tidus to go get "Mom" and he would run to Mervyn's and wait at the side door for her to come out.
Besides the occasional annoyance with my Grandpa, I've never heard this woman complain. She rarely even likes to tell anyone what she wants. For birthdays and Mother's Day, you usually have to pay close attention to what she says to figure out what she wants. She would never ask, though. One year before Mother's Day I remember her saying, "I like the Grove." There it was, the clue that she wanted to go to the Grove.
When she was growing up she's had to endure things that today, I just couldn't imagine. For instance, when the Japanese were taking over Guam, my Grandma and her family hid in caves to save their lives because the Chamorros on the island were being killed off. She told me stories of having to leave the cave at night to search for food to eat. My aunts and uncles have told me stories of them not having much money growing up and my Grandma would always find creative ways to provide, like using rice to glue school projects and lipsticks as crayons. She can grow anything in her garden and it blooms. I recall her bringing what I thought was a very dead orchard back to life. It's her touch...she has that certain magic.
She's had to hold the family together when a gambling addiction threatened to take all they had. She's been by my Grandfather's side through his many heart surgeries and always nurses him back to health, all the while keeping our heavy hearts light. Once I rushed to the hospital when my Grandfather was having an emergency surgery. Everyone looked worried and most of us were crying. She sat there quietly. No tears. No worry. She saw how upset I was and simply said to me, "Just pray." When I was 26, I was so scared to tell her I was pregnant because I wasn't married. See, she is a devout Catholic who has a mini alter complete with statues of Mary and Jesus in her bedroom. Every morning and night she can be found on her knees praying. I finally mustered up the nerve to tell her and to my surprise she said,"It's okay, Dee, you'll get married later." I never did get married, but she never held it against me and Keona loves, loves, loves her Nana.
Today and always I celebrate this special woman. I hope and pray that I can be as strong and resilient as she. I hope I can make lumpia, red rice and carrot cake just half as well as she does. Actually, I hope to do everything with that special touch that she possesses. I am so proud to know I am a part of her and so is my daughter. I could go on and on with stories about this lady, but I think I'll save it for a book. :)
As always, peace, blessings and Deelicious Fun! Happy Birthday, Mom!!
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