Personal Narrative: Part 2 of 8
Grandma
Grandma. My maternal grandmother has been a big part of my life. She has been there for as long as I can remember. She is my grandmother who has always lived the closest to us, and she is the grandmother I see the most. Her name is Vera. For this narrative, though, we’re going to call her grandma. Her husband, my grandpa Frank, passed away when I was only three years old. I never had the chance to know him. I do have one memory of him that I can recall vividly. It is just a snapshot in my mind from when I was very young. We were all at my grandparent’s house. My grandpa was sitting at the kitchen table talking to some of the other adults. I was in the other room, and between the two rooms is a window-type opening. I can remember looking through that window and seeing him sitting at the table. It was just a few weeks ago, April 4, that made the anniversary of Grandpa’s passing.
Grandma comes from the Azores – Portuguese islands located in the Atlantic Ocean. The island our family comes from is called Terceira. The Portuguese culture was a huge influence in my raising. I attribute a lot of this to my grandma. Her parents came to America from the islands. They spoke no English and had five kids: Manuel, Mary, Erma, Vera, and Velma. My grandma said that growing up, they spoke nothing but Portuguese at home. When the kids were in school, they spoke English. My family has lived the Portuguese-American “dream” – they had dairies and supported themselves with the dairy.
My grandma spoke of making their own butter from milk that came straight from their cows. In my experiences in the Portuguese culture, the women are to stay at home and work for the household until they’re married. Granted, these are for the more traditional “Greenhorns” as we call them. But, I have seen this true in some of my friends who are my age that I’ve grown up with. The females have far less privileges than the males do, and are expected to stay at home and clean, cook, take care of the younger siblings. This was also the case for my grandma. She said that she was out milking cows until the day before her wedding.
When it came for my grandma’s turn to become a mother, she took a different approach in raising her kids. My grandparents owned their own dairy, but instead of making the two boys and my mother work on the dairy, they let them work where they wanted. Three things that my grandma did keep constant from her upbringing and to the upbringing of my mom and my uncles were church, cooking, and festas. My mom kept those same three things a constant in my upbringing as well. I would also go so far as to say that these three things are staples of the Portuguese culture.
I was raised going to mass on all the holidays, and then every weekend of the summer while we were at different festas. I was also raised on the best tasting, most unhealthy cooking. These three things have become huge components of my life. I was always around the church growing up, but it wasn’t until later in my life that I took hold of my own faith. Both my mom and grandma are some of the best cooks I know. They are the best at making that home-made comfort food. Upon visiting my home (or any other Portuguese home), you will never leave hungry. Cooking has become another passion in my life – so much so that before attending Pacific, I was enrolled in culinary school. Last but not least, we have festas. Festas are a huge deal in the Portuguese culture. They are symbolic of Queen Elizabeth in Portugal giving up her crown to the church and feeding the poor people of her country. In the history of festas, are amazing stories of the power of the Holy Spirit. Festas are weekend celebrations filled with food, dancing, and socializing – all things I love.
The Portuguese culture is something that will be forever rooted deep within me. I am thankful for my grandma and that she kept the Portuguese traditions alive and instilled them in my mother, who then instilled them in me. When the time comes that I get married and have children of my own – I would love to instill these same great traditions in them as well. I also hope that my grandma will be there to see my own kids. She is such a spunky and fun lady who I love so much.
