The Chronicles Of Nay

Happy mothers day to all the women in my life. I know that this is always a tough time for some. I am still able to talk to my mom and I do, quite often! I know that others miss that they can’t anymore. Even though I have lost one of my grandmas, I am very fortunate that I still have a grandma that is alive and in good health, I have many aunts and cousins that are great moms, all because we had amazing examples.

I know I have told the story but perhaps you are fairly new to my blog but my Grandma had breast cancer. My Grandma Cordy was a pretty phenomenal woman! She taught me many things while I was growing up she taught me how to read a recipe, my mom isn’t particularly good at this! Haha She taught me how to cross stitch and embroider, she taught me when you “turn the beans off” on an electric stove you have to remove them from the heat! She showed me what it is like to love and trust the lord with all your heart. Those of you that don’t know my grandma knew she had breast cancer for 30 years and didn’t tell ANYONE! If you already “heard” this story I won’t take offense if you skip the rest of this paragraph but this is from a blog I wrote years ago… In the fall of 2004 we became aware of the fact that something was wrong… my grandma had blood on the inside of her bras. When questioned about it she tried to blow it off and just kept giving vague and strange answers. Her staple answer was “you don’t wanna know” Once my mom and aunt got her to talk they discovered the secret she had been keeping for MANY years. They went to the doctor and my grandma revealed to the doctor that she was aware that she might have cancer 30 years before that day! The cancer was so far that it eaten away at her breasts and the blood from her bra was actually dead cancer cells that were leaving the body through some sort of open wound! When he asked her why she didn’t tell anyone her response (still makes me smile!) was “I didn’t have the time the energy or the money to be sick so I wasn’t sick! And between God and my Aloe Vera plant I knew I would be just fine!” she would say that when she first found it my mom was a kid and she needed to see her grow up, then she did and had kids and she needed to see us grow up. The faith that she had in both God and her Aloe Vera is amazing!

She just trusted that everything would be ok! She had a double mastectomy and did radiation therapy. She did the chemo shot and eventually she did actual chemo. We were fortunate enough to have her live with us during this time. I look back on it and I am amazed and astonished at her attitude toward it all! I guess you don’t live with cancer for 30 years with a shitty attitude about it! I mean when the doctor was talking to her about her mastectomy he asked her if she thought she would want reconstruction surgery and she said “pfff no! I’m all vieja (old)! What do I need boobs for anymore?!” She was a pretty funny lady! She passed away in December 2009. I guess you would say it was the cancer that eventually killed her. I would say more it was the treatments and the surgeries that did it.

I was very fortunate that was I was able to grow up not far from my other grandma. She lived just down the road. She taught me a lot of things too. Like how to be nice to people, all people, even if they are different. She taught me that there is no substitute for hard work. She showed us that food can always bring family together and she showed me how to cook with passion (and with cumin). Some of my fondest memories of our family is around my grandmas dining room table! Whether she had made albondigas, beans and rice, Menudo or those little shells with cheese there was always food and there were always cards or dominoes! One of the most important things that my grandma taught me is that I don’t need to care what other people think is a standard of pretty, If I am happy with me than that is all that matters. She was one of the first people that showed me that my hair is mine and I can do whatever I want to it! When I was young I had very long very straight very thick hair. My grandma used to perm my hair in her kitchen. I remember being there for hours, I had a lot of hair! Around fourth grade I decided that I was done with long hair, and even though my grandma was all on board for me to cut it, she wouldn’t do it for me. Over the years my hair has seen many different styles and colors but I know that no matter what I do to my hair my grandma is just gonna smile.

My mom is also pretty amazing! I am so proud of her and all the hard work she has done. My mom started going to the local community college when I was in high school. She took a class or two each semester as she could and graduated with her associate’s degree in May of 2013 and she is on her way to getting her bachelors within the next couple semesters. My mom worked full time, raised my brother (I was in high school I was “raised” jk haha) was at every baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball, football game and every tennis match. I don’t know how many hours of sleep she sacrificed to make sure that she was there to support us and get homework done! My mom often jokes that she doesn’t have a heart. I think it’s quite the opposite. I think she has an enormous heart and she uses the excuse of not having a heart so that she doesn’t show people her feelings. Some of the things my mom has taught me is never make excuses, have a dream and a goal then do what you need to in order to reach it. Have passion for something it doesn’t have to make sense to anyone but you! Be silly and laugh, hard, often and sincerely! And also love, hard often and sincerely! My mom has a hard-exterior shell but that woman is a ball of love!

My mom and both of my grandmas have instilled things in me that have made me the woman I am today. I would not be the strong, independent, funny, adventurous woman I am today. I don’t have kids of my own but I hope that I instill at least some of these values in the students that I see every day. God put amazing women in my life and I hope that I am paying it forward to the women of our future!

It’s a beautiful day out there Fort Worth! I hope that all of you have an amazing mothers day, call your mom if you haven’t already! One day you won’t be able to and then you will wish you had!