Fatima Ortega
I will give back.
The first face a child sees is that of their family: their parents, their siblings, if any, and their
relatives. The rest of the world comes later. “Familia viene primero”. Family comes first. I would
not be where I am today had I not had my family. And I’d do anything for them. If they were
sad, I would try my best to crack a joke or offer to take them out to eat. If they were angry, I’d
try to console them. If there was anything I could give, I would.
That’s just how they raised me.
My family always taught me lessons that held a lot of meaning to me; like “ponte las pilas.” Put
on your batteries. My grandma would always tell me that when I did something wrong. She
would tell me that whenever I got into arguments with my cousin. Or whenever I spoke back to
my parents. Whatever I did, if it was wrong, she would be there. So would “la chancla;” The
sandal. Regardless of the punishments I received from her, todo lo que hace es para mi. She only
wanted the best for me.
I loved my grandma. Mi abuelita siempre estuvo ahi por mi. My grandma was always there for
me. I can’t think of a single moment where she didn’t care for me. And there wasn’t a single
moment where I didn’t love mi abuelita. I wanted to be just like her. She was comforting: just
being in her presence was enough to null my anxiety and dismiss my stress. And she was
beautiful. And tenacious. Like an extravagant, crimson-red rose with its glowing, petal-rich
vermillion crown of a head and thorn abundanced stem. Nothing could weigh her down.
Except... le han diagnosticado cáncer
She developed breast cancer. And that magnificent, unwavering flower began to wilt, eroded by
both this illness. But I could never give up on her. Every weekend, I would visit her....
