The Family She Built

The Family She Built

My grandmother told me

"Anak, I don't have anything

to leave you

If tomorrow

death comes

to take me,

All I can give

Is the knowing

My good family

will live

Long after me."

See, she built this family

Foundation, up

She used her hands,

Her heart, her will

To fill

The lives of her children

And their children and theirs

With so much joy

And overwhelming

Love

That carried our bloodline

Over Pacific Ocean currents

No matter which way

The tides took us

She taught us to find home

In each other

The callusus and growths on

My grandmother's hands

Are the markings

Of a master seamstress

Sewing endless hems and linings

That clothed children

From mainland and island

And sewing seeds

To grow greens

To clothe her own children from

The little she was paid

For long hours she stayed

With

Needle to thumb

Thimbled numb

She counted few dollars

And count many working hours

For the many mouths and hearts

She fed

Who counted on her

She moved with

the movements

Of birth giving,

bringing

13 grandchildren

Into her arms and care

She lived for us

And the little girl who she

Spent most of her living with

Could not help but cling to her

She would sit me beside her

In kitchen

To watched her

With waves of her hands

No measurement

Just memory and mastery

I was meserized

As she sizzled and baked

And boiled and deep fried

To not only nourish us

But make us come back

For more

For our fill

For she fed us

Her love and her warmth

She cooked to perfection

And she passed down

This magic

Giving all of self

In all you do and all you say

All you cook

She showed me the way

And to this day

Granddaughter creeps to

Mama's bedroom

Where she curls into her bosom

And her heart beat holds her

Steady

She still looks to her

Sinking into the gentle blue lining

Around her deep brown eyes

"That's my wisdom"

She told her

Like the whites

atop her head

"That's my wisdom"

She told her

She taught her

Granddaughter

The greatest wisdoms

She knew-

Of kindness

And generosity

Compassion

And gratitude.

This is what she built

This family from

And linked us together

With everlasting love

And today she reminds me

In our moment of parting that

With no material gifts

To leave me

She'd leave me

With something else so great

The happiness in knowing

That our family

This family she built

Is a good one