Images of Nana

• First, she would always remind us when we got up, “Make your bed. Don’t let Tata see your bed not made.”
  
• When entering the house, everyone enters through the side door into the kitchen. Nana would be there in the kitchen, or if not, she would be shuffling her feet around the corner to see who it is.
  
• Her kitchen would smell of cinnamon sticks, cinnamon tea, frijoles, or tortillas.
  
• She would immediately ask, “What do you want to eat?” “You need to eat.” And we would eat, no matter if we were full.
  
• She would make something from scratch right then and there if we wanted it.
  
• But you were out of luck if it was time for her novelas. “It’s almost time for my stories,” she’d say.
  
• If it wasn’t her stories, it was Bob Barker and the Price is Right.
  
• If she wasn’t cooking, she was cleaning dishes so she could use them to serve the next visitors.
  
• We learned not to swallow seeds when eating watermelon, otherwise we’d grow one inside of us.
  
• When the boys talked about girls or dating and kissing, our Nana would say, “Que verguenza!”
  
• When joking with her she would wave her hand at us to “cut it out” and say, “Ay” and then our name. “Ay, Sergio” “Ay, Gregory” “Ay, Sanny”
  
• We can hear the light smacking sound of her hands as she pressed maza into tortillas.
  
• She would quiet us down if we were laughing too much. “Don’t be so loud, Tata will get mad!”
  
• She would braid Betsy and Laura’s hair, and probably would have with Sergio’s and Matt’s if Tata or Sammy let them grow it that long.
  
• She'd eat pecans with us on the back porch.
  
• Going chopping for chirts, chorts, choes, and chonis.
  
• At the store she would always run into someone she knew. A 15 minute trip to K-Mart would take up to 60 due to visiting. I know where my dad gets it.
  
• She’d keep a cushion in the truck so she could sit up and see over the steering wheel.
  
• Nana would always ask how we were doing in school. She always shared with us how well she did and that graduation was of the utmost importance.
  
• She was always proud of her grandchildren. Always willing to brag to her friends about us.
  
• When on the phone longer than 30 minutes, we knew one of her sisters was on the other line.
  
• When getting ready to leave for church or to go to the store, we would be sitting with Nana in the truck or car, waiting, while Tata locked every door, every window, went to the bathroom. “Vamanos, Sanny!” she would call out.
  
• The clothes she wore—slippers, nightgowns, pink and bright green curlers in her hair, brown or tan polyester pants, blouses with flowers of all colors and patterns, her kitchen apron.
  
• The TV and lights had to be out at 10 o’clock.
  
• When having sleep-overs with each other or friends, we’d giggle and laugh in the dark, only to hear Nana “SHHHH” from the hallway.
  
• She taught her grandchildren how to kneel next to their bed and say their prayers.
  
• She would always remind us, when saying Goodnight, to say those prayers.
• And I am sure that at her bedside, she'd say prayers for us, in case we decided to cheat.