A Wise Woman Once Said....

This past weekend I laid low and decided to spend some time with my family. This included a visit to my grandmother. A lil background on my abuelita, she is a 4ft nothing, lucid 85-year-old who lives happily alone in her house in the Bronx. Needless to say, she is a tough cookie. She always tells you exactly what’s on her mind, so man up before going to see her. Usually you walk in and hear either one of these responses:

“WOW you gained a lot of weight!”

“WOW you look so skinny, are you eating enough??”

I mean honestly, you CANNOT win with this woman, but her rice and beans and old-school life advice are worth the initial torment. So, I went with my cousin to eat dinner and sulk about my non-existent love life for a lil while. I was happily surprised this time when I entered the house and after looking me up and down, she exclaimed “You look so nice mama, and are you getting taller or am I getting shorter?”

YAY, for once I passed the abuelita test! This made my whole week. Then it got even better as we started discussing relationships:

Abuelita: “Do you have a boyfriend now?”

ME: “No”

Abuelita: “GOOD!”

ME: IT’S NOT GOOD I AM NEVER GOING TO GET MARRIED LIKE THIS (mini tantrum)

Abuelita: “That’s GOOD!” You don’t need to get married, Ay Mija; it’s too much responsibility and work. Pa Que? If I was young again I wouldn’t get married…. Just enjoy your life, have fun, you can see people and fool around, but you don’t need to get married. Look at people these days at their weddings the ring bearer and flower girl are their children or grandchildren. And they still wear white! HA! In my day you had to be a virgin when you married, I was married a virgin. They told us if you got married not as a virgin, your veil would fall off, at the altar, so everyone would know. LOL But not now, you don’t need to get married.

ME: *huge sigh of relief.*

So the moral of the story is, when in doubt about your life, just visit your grandmother. She is sure to give you some valuable insight, or at the least feed you and make you feel like less of a loser than before you got there. And if my grandma says I am A-ok the way I am, than who am I to argue with her?