We are not eternal
She was the strong woman, the one with muscular arms and nimble steps that came to visit once a year. My mother always tried to keep her with us a few more days in Lima. “I have to return to the farm,” she would say. And she hurried back to her world far away in the jungle.
Her name is Natividad. Grandma Nati to me, though she is not your typical grandma, the one that hugs and kisses you and prepares you sweets. She is the woman who started working at a young age and continues today at 84 years old. She doesn’t work so much because she needs to but because she likes it. She knows nothing else.
But she is no longer the strong woman I remember. I felt her bones as I hugged her on a visit a few weeks ago. I felt sad. But when I saw her walking on the farm, I smiled again. Among her coffee plants, she transformed into the woman I remembered. The mosquitoes do not bite her. Heat does not bother her. Her thin arms do not tire and her eyes shine brighter than ever.
To me she is an example of dedication and perseverance. She is proof that when we want something with all our hearts, nothing will stop us. Not age – or time.