PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

There are many things my grandmother taught me in the short period I had her by my side, but all of them summarize in those times when she sat down in her wooden rocking chair and asked me to put plastic curlers in her hair. You see, she always was presentable for two reasons: First of all, because she was a secretary, so she wanted to look good at her work, and second and most important of all, because she was that way. She used to wear beautiful skirts and blouses, her nails were long and good-looking, she used heeled shoes and she usually wore a scarf when she had to go out. And of course, her hair had to be presentable, too. So she made herself curls, and her hair always looked like the ones of Mexican actresses in black and white movies. But one day, when I was old enough to do so, she asked me if I wanted to help her. When I accepted, she approached a little round table with the curlers to the rocket chair and sat down. I discovered you need patience to put them on, and a strong hand. In my grandma’s case, I had to take a portion of her very short hair, roll it in a curler, and then insert a second piece on the curler to keep it from falling. Putting that second piece was hard, and I usually had to put a lot of pressure. The first time I worried about it, so when I was about to do it I ask her “What happens if you feel pain?”, and she simply responded: “I will stand it”. So, every time I put on her plastic curlers, before putting together both pieces, I asked her: “What happens if you feel any pain?” And she always responded: “I will stand it”. Little I knew, until a couple of years from now, she did that always. When she got sick, when she had to go to work with an oxygen tank, when she was in the hospital and when she lost her sight, she asked my mother to comb her hair and surely put on her her plastic curlers a couple of hours before the visit could come. Because it didn’t matter all the bad or good things she had to face, she had to be presentable. Her long nails in order, her face with a little makeup and her hair curled, and she will stand them.