Role Models

Its good and healthy to have role models. The people who set a standard to live by mold and shape our lives for the better. As women, we need to pay special attention to other women in our lives and constantly seek out others to emulate or at least learn from.  My maternal grandmother was someone I admired and looked up to. She was strong physically and mentally. She traveled from Italy just herself and 3 young children by boat to meet my grandfather who had come to Toronto ahead of his family. My Nonna's English was poor, but her love of family and tradition was strong. She taught us Italian by speaking to us in Italian. Sometimes the kids would try and answer in broken Italian. She would pinch our cheeks and give us an endearment like "Cara mi bella" or "chichouti". Every Sunday was  a visit to Nonna's. Everybody always showed up and then some. Nonna would happily cook 5 course meals for at least 12 people. Sunday never ended before 8pm. Nonna was the rock of the family and deeply religious. Yes, she was the little old Italian lady with the scarf on her head going early to mass and staying after for choir practice and polishing the wooden pews. We always said grace before meals and took turns starting the prayer. When the cousins slept over at Nonna's we sat together in our pajamas and said our prayers, in Italian of course, repeating after Nonna.
Her life was not complicated. She was a good woman with a good heart who had nothing but love for her family. In fact, she was the glue of the family holding us all together. She definitely made her voice heard if one of her children or grandchildren misbehaved. We feared a "Nonna lecture". We respected her so much we'd never want to disappoint. It was good. It made us good.
Now that I'm a grown woman with children of my own, I often reflect on good influences like my Nonna.