Precious moments at Grandma's

Visits to Grandma’s

              I loved visiting my grandparent’s home when I was a child. We stayed with them for days. It was so exciting to hear our parents planning the trip to grandma’s house. My sisters, my brothers and I used to count down the days. We talked about our relatives for days while planning all kind of activities, packing toys and other gifts for them, especially for grandma Maria. My grandmother Maria loved to cook, she loved her animals and she loved us.

         I remember like it was today, Grandma Maria cooking in her little wooden kitchen with her hair up, wearing a flowery apron while making sure that the burning fire in a corner was ready for the big pot. In the other corner was a bucket of fresh drinking water covered with green big leaves. Her kitchen was so tiny but the big aroma coming from the ripe bananas, guavas, oranges, mangoes and others in her fruit basket were so tempting and irresistible. The days of our visits were always a deliciously especial time at grandma’s kitchen. She loved to cook; her best dinner menu was rice with fresh chicken. It was so funny watching the chase of the chicken and how the cleaning process was done. Before cooking her meal, she gathered fresh herbs and spices from her garden. Her cooking smells was a prelude, an invitation to a rich dinner. To this day I still remember the taste of her mouthwatering rice with fresh chicken meal.

         Another good thing about Grandma Maria was her love and respect for animals. She really cared for them. One morning, I was awakened by the crying noises of her baby goats; I walked outside to find out what was the commotion about.  I was surprised to see all the baby goats wearing a cloth cup around their mouth while Grandma Maria was milking the mother goats. As soon as she finished milking the mother goats she removed the cloth cups from the baby’s mouth, and she came in the kitchen with a bucket full of goat’s milk. I asked her about the little goats crying for milk and she told me, “I love you, I love my animals, now we have milk and the baby goats are happy, they have milk all day long”. It took me a long time to understand her and to realize how smart she was.

         Grandma Maria’s unconditional love is something that I hold in my heart.  She is always on my mind, unforgettable moments; her soft skinny hands holding my hand while walking together or rubbing away my aches and pains with her home remedies. How can I forget sitting next to her brushing her white long hair while listening to her stories. Her love and all the blessing she gave me made me grow more secure in this world full of uncertainties.

         Time had passed; Grandma Maria is not physically with me, but all the things she did to make our visits to her home a memorable one had paid off. I can sense her presence in my kitchen, around the sweet smell coming from my fruit basket or from the taste of fresh herbs and spices from my cooking. I learned from her to love, to care and respect all types of life forms. My childhood memories shared with Grandma Maria are part of the person I am today, “a grandmother who loves my grandchildren the same way Grandma Maria loved me”.