In Remembrance of a Strong and Bold Woman

Throughout the course of my life, I have seen my Grandma as a larger than life character, taken straight from the crisp, white pages of a gently worn novel. In my eyes, she has always been a woman of incredible strength and unparallel passion. I have always imagined her defying the rules of a patriarchal society and challenging the belief that women were the weaker sex. There was nothing in the world Grandma couldn’t do. To prove this fact, she would often go against of the grains of expectation to demonstrate her abilities. Perhaps this was purely her stubbornness, which she possessed in no short quantity, or perhaps there was a deeper motivation for her continual challenges posed to society. We may never know what caused her to continually push the boundaries, but we do know that God planted a seed inside her which grew to touch the hearts of all those around her.

Grandma’s unconventional characteristics allowed her to shine brightly above the rest. By living a life that constantly pushed the boundaries, she demonstrated to me what it means to be an individual. To not care about the opinions of others and follow to my own heart, and reach out and follow the dreams God bestowed upon me. She taught me that the negative voices of others should be drowned out and overpowered by the persistent, voice that whispers continual encouragement. She demonstrated that life was not meant to be lived in conformity. We were each given unique talents that are meant to be used and not squandered.

The lessons she demonstrated through her life showed that life is not meant to be lived from the sidelines. Life is meant to be grabbed by the horns, and wrestled into submission. There is a world that lives and dies each day and it is our job as human beings to fill those hours with passion. With heart. With a stubbornness to seize every precious moment of sunlight and make it our own. She illustrated through her life that we are to unapologetically squeeze every delicious drop of passion from this world before we are to return to our place of Paradise.

I am truly grateful for the lessons she has taught me because they have molded me into the woman I am today. I am strong. Confident. Talented. Creative. And brave. These are all qualities I have inherited from the woman who was too stubborn to take no for an answer. Grandma, I will always carry you in my heart, and I will continually challenge the societal rules that dictate what a woman can and cannot do.

Thank you for living a loud, proud, and bold life.