Vavo, My Family

ALC
ALC
Sep 3, 2018 · 4 min read

By: ALC

Vavo:

From day one the importance of family was drilled into my mind and at the root of the drilling was Vavo. I truthfully don’t think my description of her will even be able to do her justice. Vavo was my grandmother, my mother’s mother, she was a lively, stubborn, loving woman born in the Portuguese Azores. Vavo truly was the heart and soul of our family, she brought us together and instilled special traditions in us from day one that will will carry on through generations.

I spent much of my childhood at Vavo’s house. She would watch me while my parents were at work and as I grew up after school. The picture at right are only some of the items that capture my time as a child with her and the things she taught me. The candy dish filled with glass candies was one of the many things in Vavo’s house that were off limits, but of course that didn’t stop me. The different vibrant colors of blue, red, green, yellow and the different textures of the candies were so beautiful and special to me. To this day they never ceased to bring back memories and put a smile on my face. The bright orange cassette tape of Dora the Explorer is something I used to watch over and over again on repeat at her house, yet she never made me turn it off. The book Rita Nāo Grita is a Portuguese picture book that she used to read to me about a girl Rita who was loud and kinda mean. She taught me that that’s not how you treat people and how to show them respect. While these things represent only my childhood with Vavo he did so much more.

The Challenges and Unknown:

Life isn’t life without challenges, and it’s often the challenges that help shape our identities into what they are currently. But sometimes it’s also these challenges that confuse us of who were are and leave us feeling lost. For me I can not tell you who I am because I don’t feel like I really know my identity. I don’t think I have lived enough to tell you this and I think I need to overcome this obstacle that God recently has thrown my family’s way. Three weeks ago we lost the heart and soul of our family, we lost our Vavo.

I think that life throws these challenges at you to shape you into the person you are meant to be. Right now I am a daughter being strong for her mother, a big sister staying strong for her brothers, a cousin supporting her family, a niece trying her best to help, and a granddaughter trying to be all she can be for her grandmother she knows is watching her. This is who I feel like I am right now. I know this will change as time goes on and things get better. So I don’t totally know who I am right now or who I will be three hours from now, three weeks from now, three months from now, or three years from now. I guess only time will tell an for now we face the challenges and the unknown.

Traditions:

Traditions have always been a big part of my family. They have always done an amazing job at keeping all of our traditions alive and not letting them die with those who have left us. It is always up to the next generations to continue making sure the traditions are continuously passed down. I look forward to the future when it is my job.

Years from now I see myself hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas for my children and their families, like Vavo and my mother. Most importantly I see myself showing my family how to do the things my Vavo and mother taught me to do. I see myself teaching them how to make Vavo’s specialty, masa, a Portuguese sweet bread. Telling them stories about how even in her old age their great grandma still got up and punched that dough like no other. Showing them how to make bauschutz, a lemony Portuguese tea cookie. While telling them that I’m the only one who likes to make the cookies because they are so much work. Reliving the memories of rolling out those sweet lemony cookies with Vavo while she thanked God for finally giving her a granddaughter who could make the good bauschutz. It’s these traditions that Vavo taught us and it’s I who plans to carry them on throughout the generations.

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