Ode to Nana

Photo Courtesy: Jazlynn G.E.P.

In loving memory of my Nana Maria Elena (October 5, 1947 to February 16, 2022)

I stitch these words and images like how Nana used to sew -
With care, ease, and determination.
These crafts come to us like intuition.
A second nature that were always in these hands.
Ready to mend the broken past to create a durable future.
We will spend hours getting the details right.
Making sure everything fits the way it’s supposed to.

These are the legacies we leave to you.
Forever fixing.
Forever changing.
Forever trying.
To love you the ways that we know and want you to remember. For we are the storytellers.

The givers.
The makers.
The rememberers of everything past, present, and future.

That’s why if you find Nana in the
kitchen,
Sit with her.
Speak with her.
Listen to her tales.
Of how she was the first.
And the last.
And everything in between…
If you hear me bring Nana up,
Ask me about her.
Sit with me.
Listen to her tales.
Of how she was the first.
And the last.
And everything in between.

For repetition is not a broken record.
It is blessings being sewn into your memory.
Etched into your DNA.
So that one day, you will inherit your intuition.
This craft will be yours too.
And it shall be second nature to love your family and our history.

Of how we are the first.
And the last.
And everything in between.