My Grandma’s Journey

This post was made with the help of my beautiful grandma, who thankfully has an amazing memory, and who was really excited to be on the internet.

Everyone has a story, a personal journey that says a lot about the person. Life can get very intense at some points and every difficulty is a test we need to overcome in order to continue that journey. Why am I saying this? Well, basically today I want to share with all of you the story of one the most important people in my life: my grandmother (who is also like my best friend), and her story is truly an example that we must not give up while facing an obstacle.

This is the story of a hardworking woman who had to leave her country to meet her father and have a better life, and how she now has to return to that same country after 53 years.

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My grandmother was born on June 3rd of 1942 in Portugal, specifically in a town called São Vicente in a small island called Madeira. At that time Portugal, like the rest of Europe, was facing a lot of problems due to World War II and other political issues, so when she was only 2 years old, her father had to leave his family to work in another country called Venezuela.

Source

Her father (and I’m quoting my grandma here) forgot about his family, so they didn’t know if he was fine or what he was doing.

When my grandma was little she used to live with her mother and her younger brother (who was 11 months when his father left). Her mother was also a very hardworking and humble woman, and she took care of her two children by working in agriculture and sewing other people’s clothes, but she would get sick very often, so when my grandmother was 8 years old, she and her family moved to a different house, where they lived with other relatives.

The situation in that house was very difficult as well, and there were a lot of problems, but this didn’t stop my grandma, who was studying primary school during this time.

Since she was little, her dream was to help other people, she wanted to become a nurse and work with small children but she didn’t have the means to continue her education, this is why when she was 12 years old she had to quit school, but she decided to learn how to sew so she could help her mother.

My grandma (right) with a cousin

During this time, she would also go to the mail every single day to check if her father had sent any type of letter. She desperately wanted to know about him, so she would pray at night that he would show some sign of life.

One lucky day, the first letter finally arrived, he told his family that he was fine and he sent them a check with money. Moved by this, my grandma’s brother decided he wanted to go meet his father; tired of living in poor conditions, he took the letter’s address and traveled to Venezuela at the age of 17. My grandma’s brother then started to send his family some money when he began to work in Venezuela.

In the meantime, in Portugal, my grandma and her mother were still struggling to survive, but despite everything, my grandma says, and I quote: “We were happy in our own way”.

With the money her brother was sending, my grandma was able to officially make a course where she learned how to embroider and sew using a machine.

This is her receiving her certificate

Several years passed when my grandma and her mother decided they also wanted to go to Venezuela. They were tired of being apart and this new country seemed like a sign of hope to them. So they bought tickets to travel in a ship called “Roma”, and it was actually only its second travel from Portugal to Venezuela.

My grandma was 24 years old when this happened.

My grandma told me it was very hard for her to say goodbye to her country and the rest of her family. She also told me she had a very hard time traveling by ship, she was dizzy and she wanted to vomit, but the view was nice. On the other hand, her mother was oddly calm and silent, even though this was just a mask to hide that she was actually terrified.

After 8 long days of traveling, they finally arrived in Venezuela, specifically in “La Guaira”, but the journey wasn’t over. Now they had to travel to a very small town called “Acarigua”, which was the place where my grandma’s father and brother lived.

When they got to Acarigua my grandma was so excited to meet her family, but things were not like she expected. She thought she was going to find a house with furniture like the letters said, but instead she and her mother found something that barely looked like a house, it was a construction made of mud in the middle of a field.

Of course she was disappointed, but that was the moment when she promised herself that she was going to work to give her mother a proper place to live. Needless to say, my grandma didn’t speak Spanish, so the first step was to learn the language. She bought some local magazines named “Condorito”, which were comic strips, and started to learn on her own.

On the other hand, my grandma’s father and brother had a very bad drinking problem, so the situation at home was also complicated. But again, this never stopped her; instead it gave her more strength to fight for her family.

She started working with a tailor, and she also worked washing and ironing other people’s clothes in a laundry. After a few months, her brother found a job in a local restaurant called “Sol y Luna” and my grandma was able to work there as well.

My grandma working in the laundry

During this time, in Acarigua, the government started to build houses and my grandma was desperate to buy one, so she was working day and night to fulfill her dream. Eventually, she was able to buy not only one but two houses for her and her family.

In the garden of her brand new house

Then, things started to get better because she and her brother were able to buy their own restaurant, they named it “El Lusitano”, and in that same restaurant my grandma met the man who would become her husband (my grandfather). He was a fireman and after dating for 2 years they got married.

My grandma was 28 years old when she got married.

She didn’t stop here. After some time, she bought another restaurant and named it “El Kontiqui”, where she met a lot of people and made a lot of friends. She always tells me that her clients were like her family and that she was very happy working there.

At the age of 30 she had her first child (my mom) and soon after she had my uncle.

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Long story short, as my grandma grew older she decided to sell all the restaurants and settle at home to take care of her family. I have lived my entire life with her and she has been like a second mother to me and my brother.

Despite everything she has gone through over the years, my grandma is the strongest person I know and she is my hero.

El Kontiqui

In the beginning I mentioned that she is going back to Portugal, and yes, after 53 years of living here in Venezuela she is returning to the place where she was born. I believe is not a secret to anyone the situation of my country, and right now my grandma needs to live a calm life with no worries. This is why she is leaving soon, along with my grandfather, to live with my uncle in Portugal.

It won’t be easy for me not seeing her every day but I know it’s for the best. Even though she considers herself more Venezuelan than anything she really wants to see her country again. She came here looking for a better life and now she is going back there doing the same.

She told me to leave everyone who reads this post the following message:

“If you want something, just fight for it. Life is not easy but we can be happy despite all the problems.”

PD: We still live in the same house my grandma bought.

Thank you so much for reading! :)

Important note: I scanned all my grandma’s pictures especially for this post and the first one was taken by me with my cellphone.