“She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.” – Proverbs 31:25
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Today is my Lola’s birthday. She is 77.
My Lola (grandmother) is one of the strongest women I know.
She was widowed when she was in her 30s and raised 7 children on her own.
And she did it in a place and time where there was no such thing as food stamps or welfare. She buried 2 of her own children (4 if you count the twins she miscarried when my grandfather died).
She found odd jobs doing laundry and ironing for people. She also tried her hand at several businesses.
Japanese paper balloons
For a long time she made Japanese paper balloons and sold them in bulk at the market or to people for fiestas and parties. She actually continued making the paper balloons well into my childhood — I remember helping her make the rice glue used to stick the paper pieces together. She said it was a way she made money for herself, even when her children were willing and able to support her.
When her kids were older, Lola opened up a little canteen that catered to sailors (she and my aunts are fabulous cooks!) It’s actually how my mom met my dad.
My Lola helped raise Sister and me, along with several other cousins. She lived with us when I was a young child, caring for us like only a grandmother could. And when she returned to live with us during our teenage years, she endured our teen angst.
I love many things about my grandma. She’s taught me many things, and I am thankful for all she’s done for me.
But the one thing that I will be forever grateful for is her fervent prayers for me to know and have a relationship with the One True God.
It was she who gave me Bible stories to read and songs to listen to as a child.
It was she who encouraged me as a moody teenager to always have faith in the God Who Is Able.
Even now, it is she who shows me what it is like to truly trust in God for all that we may ever need.
Happy birthday, Inay.
