Memory

Today would have been my grandmother's 87th birthday and my grandparents' 69th wedding anniversary. My grandparents were wonderful people and I loved them very much. I remember once, when I was younger, my grandma visited us (I think we lived in Puerto Rico at the time) and I was complaining that I was always held responsible for things that weren't necessarily my fault, just because I was the oldest child. Grandma told me that I shouldn't feel bad that I was the oldest--it was actually a privilege to be able to be the oldest--and the oldest girl, no less. She then invited me to her special club, the "Oldest Girl" club. She told me that she had been an almost life-long member and that my mother had joined, too. She also said that it would be our special thing, because not everyone could join the club.

I also got to live with my grandma and grandpa the two summers after I graduated from high school and I am forever grateful that I was able to. Even though I worked crazy hours (usually at least 60 hours a week), I was able to spend a lot of time in what I called my "second home" because my grandparents moved into that house back in the 1950s ('57 or '59, you'd have to ask my aunts and uncles to give you the specific year). Those summers I learned to garden, love tomatoes, get along with my sister (love you, Nicoel!) and learned the importance of knowing personal family history. I am so grateful that Grandma did so much family history and shared the information with all of us. I'm glad she instilled a love of our country in her children and me. I am grateful to have had such wonderful people in my life for as long as I did.