I had tried several times to push her into teaching me something, but she would give up halfway through the explanation. She would use puñitos and cuando tu veas to measure, something we never completely understood. Some days, I would sit down to watch her cook, but for her, it was more than that.Īlma Esperanza was a perfectionist who kept a strict " mas ayuda el que no estorba" policy in her kitchen-leaving my mother, my aunts, and myself to the simple role of chopping onions and tomatoes. However, my abuelita always made us feel at home wherever we were, and she would accomplish this through her cooking. Although Juarez is just across the street, so to speak, I always felt fear of feeling far away from home. My brother and I lived with her in a small apartment here in El Paso, Texas, and we created countless memories each day together. This is her border narrative.Īlma Esperanza Garcia Caro, my abuelita, passed away in May, bringing uncertainty into my life. After much discussion and some hesitation on both sides, Ana decided to share a bit about her grandmother, what she meant to her, and how important tradition and memory are and should be for all of us. After Ana became one of my Undergraduate Research Fellows for our project, she confided in me what she discusses in her blog this month. Although she works at the El Paso Community College Writing Center at Rio Grande Campus, we are both quite busy at any given moment, so I don’t see her as much anymore, although we have always kept in touch through texting, social media, or elsewhere. It wasn’t long after that she changed her major to English and transferred to The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) where she is currently finishing her junior year. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I tried to sway her to becoming an English major because I knew in my own selfish heart that this was her calling. But during those couple of hours a week I would see her in class or chatting afterwards in my office, that stress was non-existent and her excitement for the books we were covering that week took her over. I saw how much of a toll her studies the nursing program took on her. She ended up taking a couple more elective literature courses with me over the years, and that is where I saw her flourish as a student, thinker, and person. It was apparent, though, that this was not just a pastime for her, but something she was passionate about and actually good at. She took an introductory English course with me then, but almost immediately I saw in her a love for reading and writing which she confessed was one of her biggest pastimes. I had first met Ana, a timid nursing student at Rio Grande campus a few years ago. Introduction by Reyna Muñoz, Faculty Fellow:
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