To my grandmother

My abuelita

Blanca

Four years pass by since you left abuelita but I am still crying your departure. This letter is for you, to thank you for all the things that you did for my mother, aunts and uncles. You struggle, you fight and you succeed. All of my love is for you, always.

My mom told me that being a parent of nine kids was hard, but it was harder for you to race them in the poverty because you wanted to give them all, but you couldn’t. You never wanted that your kids work with my abuelito but he needed help and you needed the money to feed them, to dress them, to put a techo over their heads. Let me tell you that you didn’t do anything wrong, if my abuelito left you, it was not your fault. I know that being a single mother was a motive to being pointed out, but you did it beautifully. You thought your daughters that being pointed out wasn’t a motive to die, las personas pueden hablar, but you know who you are and what is your value. I remember that you were always saying to me “mijita si tu esposo no te valora, dejalo, lo unico que necesitas son tus estudios.”

Blanca, your name, is pureness. I couldn’t call you by your name not because I hate it, but I love to call you abue, mi abue.  I know that you suffer when you saw your kids leave you in order to look for better future. You hate the airport, you hate to say goodbyes, you hate to be here without them but you also hate not to be in Duran, your home. I want to tell you that now I am in New York, New Paltz, learning more about how to empower myself as a woman like you always wanted. I’m not letting anyone to stop me to pursuit my dreams and goals, I will make you proud. Don’t worry, I’m coming back to Ecuador, I am not leaving my effort here to develop this country, I will make my country big.

I loved you and I always will, tears come to my face when I think about you. I learned from you more than I can possible ever learn from anyone or anywhere. Your wisdom was inspiring.

Por siempre, Gaby.