Something my grandmother taught me

This week's question is: What is a piece of wisdom that you have been gifted by an elder? How did this gem help you along on your path in life?

I shared little time with my paternal grandmother, and I practically did not know my maternal grandmother. I was very little when she died, although I do have some (very clear) memories of her; so today I will share some of what I learned from my paternal grandmother, who I got to know a little better.

My paternal grandmother was very unique. She was a woman who was raised differently than other women of her time, at the beginning of the 20th century. She grew up on a farm cattle herd, because my great-grandfather had a huge farm with thousands of cows, and he was dedicated to livestock farming. There my grandmother did not take care of the tasks typical of women of her time, such as cooking, washing, cleaning, sewing, knitting... none of that, she spent her time riding horses with her father, herding cattle, directing the enormous farm, buying and selling cows, milk, cheese, etc.; So my grandmother didn't know how to cook, except for sweets, cookies, cakes, she did do that very well, but otherwise, she didn't know many of the household tasks; she knew about cattle, horses, buying and selling, trading.

I suppose that when my grandmother got married the first time (she was widowed very young, and then married again, this time to my grandfather), it was difficult for her, because she had to clean, cook, wash, etc., jobs that practically I didn't know I once heard her say that she adapted, and it was a forced learning, since she had 10 children with my grandfather... Then she became a nurse, for which she studied some training courses, and worked for a time in a small rural dispensary. She also treated people in their homes, giving injections, treating small injuries, etc.

Since she grew up in the middle of the savanna, in the middle of the plain, she knew nature very well, and she talked to me a lot about the springs, the trees, the animals that exist in the plain. I remember that he described them to me in detail and always explained to me the function of each one of them in the environment. She did not do this with scientific words (my dad would take care of that), but in a very colloquial way, from her experience as an inhabitant of the plains. I listened to her attentively (I was a very young girl), and I imagined what each of those animals would be like, since I didn't know them yet, then I was able to see and get to know them. I clearly remember that she always said that the anacondas were what allowed the springs to provide water, and that my great-grandfather forbade killing them, that was not allowed by him on his lands. Maybe this is imagination or not, but I know that behind every popular knowledge, there is a great truth. Her anecdotes, her stories, helped me to love and respect nature, animals, plants even more, to feel admiration and value all of them.

Another thing I learned from my grandmother was that there are beings other than humans and animals that can manifest in our reality. She told me about the legend of “El Silbón”, “La Llorona”, about how she had heard them on the plain, at night, and how everything was absolutely silent when those terrifying beings passed by the farm that she lived. She also told me about goblins, and that these are not as gentle beings as we think, but that they can be very harmful beings. These stories helped me understand that beyond what we see, there is much more, another world or perhaps many worlds, and allowed me to open my awareness and understanding.

Something I also learned from her is that age barriers or language barriers do not matter. My grandmother only spoke Spanish, but that was not an impediment for her, being already a person over 60 years old, to travel to the Caribbean islands (where other languages are spoken), such as Martinique, Curacao, Bonaire to buy merchandise, ( generally clothing, fine liquors, perfumes), to resell them in my country. She did this activity practically every two months, for many years, until her health deteriorated and she stopped traveling. She led by example, and taught me that stereotypes do not matter, that limitations that may exist do not matter, that if you want to do something, you decide to do it, you are constant and you believe in yourself, you can do it.

I think that my grandmother was a different person, ahead of her time, who broke out of the mold, the stereotype of a woman that was expected to be for her time, and did what she wanted to do.