Years before my existence there was a part of me already existing: a woman that fought so very hard to create a safe and loving environment not just for herself, but for her family. With her strength and ability to fulfill so many people’s hearts, she had raised every standard to the sky and made sure that I was a priority before anything else. She did not do this alone, but with my grandfather at her side. The greatest love I have ever felt in life came from them and provided an emotional high no other substance in the world could ever give.

When growing up, you tend to lose track of time and forget to stop and look back at parts of your life. It’s almost like a really good soup: sometimes you eat it so fast you realize you never took the time to savor every sip until it’s finished. When you have a childhood filled with the highest of highs and lowest of lows it’s easy to lose sight of the important parts of it. In reality it’s hard to look back at certain parts: but when asked what the most loving moments of it were, I always resort back to her. The woman I’m proud to call my grandmother. Not only do I praise her because of her heart, personality, or being. I praise my grandma because every part of her lives in me. Her ability to be optimistic in dark times, her ability to smile and bring warmth to everyone around her, her ability to know what to say in every situation, her contagious love that is felt so deeply: they all make up who I am.