Throughout generations women have always accomplished great things, be it revolution or motherhood. You grow up hearing about women so legendary with triumphs so big they could never possibly exist or be replicated today. Yet stories like the days of old are continually being written and adapted as time passes and situations change.
A constant remains through it all: every woman from the dawn of time has been either a daughter, a sister, a mother, a grandmother or a friend. So yes, your own family members can nurture the same wide-eyed inspiration you experienced as a first grader learning girls have been doing cool stuff too.
Perseverance through struggle inspires strength, this was something my mother learned throughout her early childhood as she watched her own mother scuffle with life. Dolores Zepeda, my abuela, had always had to be a provider. From a young age she had to work in order to take care of her mom after her dad passed away. Although she had been the youngest, the responsibility fell on her.
“I have so much admiration for her, for her strength,” my mother reminisces.
When the time came to find a better life in the U.S., the hardships continued. At one point the migra had taken my abuelo back to Mexico, leaving her behind with two children while also six months pregnant. Alone without family, my abuela went back to Mexico two months later in order to reunite with her husband. After having her child she returned to the U.S. three months later, this time with her family intact. They did eventually get their version of a happily ever after, but it didn’t end there.
“Even as a teen I remember she used to work in a packing shed. She would drive in the night and come back really late,” my mother recalls. “I’ve always seen her as strong and independent, just always doing what needed to be done to get food on the table and make sure we had everything that we needed to give us the best life that she could.”
My mom owes a lot to where she’s at now due to the unfaltering strength and dedication her parents embraced in the face of numerous trials and tribulations. As the oldest, my mom had taken it upon herself to bear responsibility as well. She never jeopardized her future or dared to waste the opportunity that many wished and risked everything for. She worked tirelessly and became the first in her family to go to college.
It all paid off in the end. My grandparents now live comfortably with their plethora of plantitas surrounded by grandchildren (dogs included, no matter how much my abuelo claims otherwise) and safe in the knowledge that everything had turned out alright.
And me? I wouldn’t have half the things I love so dearly if it weren’t for the unwavering conviction of generation after generation vying for the opportunities of something better for the ones they love the most.