And I sit with my grandmother, just because I enjoy it so. She's sitting with her new friend, this old lady that has Alzheimers and that in the space of 2 hours, has told her at least 4 times the same story. Somehow, I think my grandmother is so caught up in telling her own stories that she doesn't notice.
Old age is weird. You have these two ladies that are basking in their own memories and in their simple handmade gowns and flying here, I spent 45 minutes with a lady about their age that was sporting Converse gold All Stars, a Cali hoodie, jeweled jeans and a Gucci bag. Somehow, I think my grandmother needs a deeper pimping.
Old age is weird. You have these two ladies that are basking in their own memories and in their simple handmade gowns and flying here, I spent 45 minutes with a lady about their age that was sporting Converse gold All Stars, a Cali hoodie, jeweled jeans and a Gucci bag. Somehow, I think my grandmother needs a deeper pimping.
Coming back from my reverie, they're talking about the island they come from. How everyone knows each other, and even though they met in their 80's, they have old friends in common, they know all the names, all their old businesses, who they married, how many children they had, who died and especially which town of the island they came from.
It's so that they come to explain that people in this old island, have so many old interesting names. Some come from old practices such as the kids being named after their grandparents that already had "interesting" names, others sporting names like "Peter of the Valley Virgin" after a promise given to said Virgin, the island's most important religious figure. Other names came from the Almanac. If it was Saint Peter's day, then said boy (or girl) would be named after said saint.
It's so that they come to explain that people in this old island, have so many old interesting names. Some come from old practices such as the kids being named after their grandparents that already had "interesting" names, others sporting names like "Peter of the Valley Virgin" after a promise given to said Virgin, the island's most important religious figure. Other names came from the Almanac. If it was Saint Peter's day, then said boy (or girl) would be named after said saint.
That's how my grandmother's name is Ezequiela. Yes, April 10th, St. Ezekiel day. And then she says: "I don't even know how I'm here." and she raises her hands to the sky. "I was saved just out of luck!"
And this is why. Back in 1926, in Margarita Island, the towns were nowhere near of having anything; no decent roads, sanitary fixes, or housing. My greatgrandfather had a friend that owned a donkey, in which he would carry logs for fire and other furnishings if hired. My greatgrandmother, very advanced in her pregnancy, got up in the middle of the night, thirsty, and with the need to use the non existant loo.
He gets up, takes the bucket, and walks to the well, about 10 minutes from the shack, and leaves her to go into the backyard. Long story short, a tummy ache mistaked with labor pains ended up with my grandmother landing into this world, face first to the gravel of the improvised bathroom.
And this is why. Back in 1926, in Margarita Island, the towns were nowhere near of having anything; no decent roads, sanitary fixes, or housing. My greatgrandfather had a friend that owned a donkey, in which he would carry logs for fire and other furnishings if hired. My greatgrandmother, very advanced in her pregnancy, got up in the middle of the night, thirsty, and with the need to use the non existant loo.
He gets up, takes the bucket, and walks to the well, about 10 minutes from the shack, and leaves her to go into the backyard. Long story short, a tummy ache mistaked with labor pains ended up with my grandmother landing into this world, face first to the gravel of the improvised bathroom.
When my greatgrandfather came back, the water was used to give newborn Ezequiela her first bath of planet earth.
It marvels me that aside from my greatgrandfather having that friend with the donkey, he used to be a sailor that would go to Curaçao and bring bootlegged goods. She remembers that the boat didn't have an engine, but sails, and that they knew the sea so much that they would steer back and forth and didn't get lost.
From being a poor family with a mud shack and an outhouse, he became the owner of 2 plantantions, 3 houses around the island, and my grandmother became the heiress of a great inheritance.
From being a poor family with a mud shack and an outhouse, he became the owner of 2 plantantions, 3 houses around the island, and my grandmother became the heiress of a great inheritance.
She then says: "I named my son Ezequiel, not because he was born that day, but because its a great name for a boy"
1 comment:
Yeah but what was the donkey's name?
I love that you are in my life.
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