Today was my mami's birthday and my husband and I got to celebrate it by taking her out to dinner to a very nice seafood restaurant in a funky artist-y section of the city. She loved her fish and the restaurant (except for the funky experimental jazz piping through the sound system) so this will become a tradition.
My mami is a lioness. I inherit my feistiness and readiness for any good fight directly from my mom.
I like to tell the story of how last year she offered to call my veterinarian and berate them from Puerto Rico for telling me I had to take Geni home after her major cancer surgery last year, while my husband was away on a business trip. I had told her that I didn't feel like I could take proper care of her and I was anxious about that. She was ready to call them and tell them I would not be taking Geni home and there was nothing they could do about it.
I had to remind my mom that I am well into my 40s and can handle such situations. When I told her how I felt, the vet, of course, agreed to keep Geni for that first night and by the second day Geni was doing so well I did bring her home and all was well.
But it's really good to know my mami's got my back. She's ready to rumble and defend con uña y dientes any of her loved ones, especially her three children and six grand children.
My mami taught me to appreciate the little daily beauties that life offers up. I recall once how she remarked on the cuteness of the neon-green arrow of a traffic light and I realized then that she had taught me to notice such things. I owe my very attentive and appreciative eye to her.
I also inherit my sense of humor from her. My mom smiles a lot and her laugh is legendary because its evident and contagious glee is almost seismic in its force.
My mami also is a survivor and someone who has handled a lot in her life, but has not lost the ability to laugh and sing and dance and live each day to the utmost.
My mami is a historian, a teacher, a mentor, and a living example of a woman who, like Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos said of her own self, chose her own route and was not content to be what men wanted her to be.
My mami is a force of nature and I am my mami's daughter. Thanks to her, and because I have seen her do it, I know that I can move mountains.
1 comment:
Hear, hear. Every word of it is true, both about your mami and yourself.
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