Speech About My Grandmother

It was an early Christmas morning, I could smell the sugar cookie smell making its way through my house. I could only think of one person that could make this happen, my Abuelita. “Grandma” I shout from my room as she was in the kitchen. I wanted cookies so bad before opening our presents. But we wait for my dad to come from his house before opening presents.

My great-grandmother was the matriarch of my family. When I was in seventh grade, around thirteen years old, she passed away due to breast cancer. This misfortune created an extremely difficult time for me because, not only was I adjusting to the environment of junior high, but many other issues were occurring in my life; this was the third death that I was having to deal with. Unfortunately, one of the previous deaths (that I was still trying to hurdle through and come to terms with), had occurred almost exactly a year before the passing of my great-grandmother. The second death that I had gone through occurred only one or two months before my great-grandma has passed. All of this turmoil created numerous internal conflicts for me, but also taught me a key lesson to keep note of, for the rest of my life.

When I look back at my childhood I cannot picture it without you. You have helped shaped who I am today and for that I thank you. When I think of you i think about all the love that you have to give. I am so lucky to have you in my life and I will always cherish the memories that I have with you.

While, my mother has also been a significant individual in my life, my grandmother has always been my confidant, someone I could go to whenever I was confused or needed guidance, and she always had the answers. Whether it was putting alcohol on a scrapped knee or lending a shoulder to cry on, I could count on her to be there during my most precious moments. The tough love has also

My aunt whom just so happened to be one of my role models passed away. I was devastated. Not only was I confused, but I was lost as well. A woman I looked up to was gone forever. I missed a few days of school and starting falling behind on work. It took me awhile to process my aunt's’ death. I finally realized that I have to move on. I knew that she would not approve of me being sad. I started remembering all of the positive memories my aunt left behind. I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from her. Until this day, I carry what she taught me everywhere I go. I strive harder to make her

In March of 2001, my great grandma Simpson passed away at one hundred years old. She had a great impact on me as a kid. I remember going to her house and making molasses cookies with her and drinking hot tea. She was a woman of many talents and loved sharing them with her grandchildren and great grandchildren. We all loved helping her take care of her baby lambs and bottle feeding the ones whose mothers did not care for them. Her death was difficult, but knowing she lived a long productive life made it easier to handle. Her death was symbolic as

My grandma had survived a hard life, and yet managed to raise four responsible, well-educated, and successful children. All this she did while working as a respected psychiatric nurse and a state mental health board member. Although she had had and was still overcoming trials in life, I always knew she would be there and cared about me and my life. As my brother and I grew older and were unable to visit my grandparents as often as we

Grandma was raised in a catholic school. She loved God. I wanted to thank for bringing me closer to Him so one day in the future, we can all enjoy eternal bliss together. She married my grandpa and they began their lives here in Houston. Grandma worked her tail off to help provide for her family when tough times called.

I grew up in a small village in Mexico where there were no health care professionals. My grandmother was one of the women in the village who would take care of the sick. The knowledge and wisdom she gained over the years was passed on to my mother. One day, I remember my mother asking me to accompany her. It was late at night, all of the dogs would bark at us as we walked by, and I did not know where we were going. We came to the house of a sick child. It was then, I realized that my mother had been asked to come and give the child medicine. The privilege of getting to help the child get well again gave me a sense of accomplishment. What we had done there guided me to strive for something that would give me that same sense of accomplishment. In 1996, my family and I got the opportunity to move to the United States. As a little girl, I did not understand how such a sad and difficult goodbye would bring me to a better future. A place that has brought me closer, than I had ever thought, to accomplishing my dream of becoming a pharmacist. I am grateful for of all of the opportunities that living and studying in the United States has brought.

I remember it was a December evening, when my parents and I had just gotten back from the Nutcracker Ballet when they called to tell us that my Grandma had passed away in her sleep. My Grandma had been staying in California with my Aunt Cindy for over six or seven months, and she had been staying in a hospital bed since soon after she got to California because she was very ill with lung cancer. It made me feel very sad to think about her dying.

I interviewed my grandma, Cindy McFadden, for my person living in extraordinary times. She had a normal life that did not change much but the world around her was experiencing major changes. She was a middle class young girl and her family was not famous. She was not affected very much by the Great Depression and was not a huge fan of war, she lived a simple life. Her father worked, her mother was a housewife and she spent most of her life with her two sisters, Sandy and Betty. She was involved in sports and was an active member of the Catholic community. She was never a bad child or the child that was popular or stood out from everyone else. She is special because of her uniqueness and the times that she was living in. Major changes were occurring in the U.S. and even if it did not have a large impact, it still had an impact of her family and many families across the nation.

October 10th, 2013 at 7:30pm. The day of my grandma death. The day that changed my life forever. The day I will never forget. My grandma was my everything, she was the lady who raised me since I was born. I never had a mother or father, the only person who cared for me was my grandma. The day my grandma died I was in my senior year of high school and I had just came home from cheerleading practice. That was an unusual day for me because when I woke up that morning my grandma wasn't up cooking breakfast like she usually does she was in her bed asleep still. I looked outside and the sun was just rising. I went in her room that morning before I left for school and said these exact words, "Good morning grandma if you’re not feeling well, I could stay home with you and take you to the doctor." In a raspy low voice my grandma replied, "Good morning sweetie I'm okay I was just feeling a little sick this morning but I'm better now. You better get to school now before you are late.” Okay, Grandma Love you, call me if you need me", I replied. On my way to school all I thought about was why my grandma sounded like that this morning and how she wasn't up doing her normal routine. I have never seen my grandma get sick before. She was always the one taking care of me making sure I was okay. But I just pushed the feeling over just thinking my grandma was okay and I was just overthinking. I should've stayed home that day. I should've noticed that my grandma really was sick.

My grandmother, Esther Turner, has impacted my life in more ways than just simply being there for me, as a grandmother. She’s much more than that, in my eyes. Being the eldest of three, I’ve always taken on more responsibility as the older sister. It was my job to show my little brother and sister which paths were safe to take in this wild, confusing maze called life. At times, I felt like a mother myself, and at a young age, I found myself slightly intimidated by all the responsibilities that were laid on my shoulders. The main person I could talk to freely and openly, without judgment, was my grandmother. We have always been able to speak to each other about any and everything, nothing was off limits. That’s what I think brought us so close, the fact that she accepted me entirely for the person I presented to her.

Of course you always hear people talking about how great their grandmother or grandfather are, I too feel the same way about my grandmother. I see her as more than my grandmother, she’s a role mole, my best friend and also like a sister when I need her. She’s always been a loving and caring person. Not for only her friends and family, but also strangers. People she has never met a day in her life she would be willing to go give her last too. You don’t find to many people like her too often.

If you were to ask my Father right now how he met my mother, he would probably laugh then fling his arm friendly like over your shoulder, pull you in, and proceed to tell you lies about how this Jamaican woman took one look down the hallway after he’d walked past and could not keep her hands off him. He’d spin a tale of love and lost, the moment they fell in love and the following years of silence (He would very strategically leave out the part when he lost her letter and couldn’t reply). The fable would wrap up nicely with a “and then she begged me to marry her, and she was a beautiful woman so how could I say no? And we lived happily ever after.” At this moment any other family member rolls their eyes and shakes their head in disregard.