la pena de un corazon de gigante

"My article's titles are in Spanish I know"


It was with an english lesson that the problematic of my blog appear! At the question "Who is the person that you  admire ?" I said "my mother"! I want to tell you that my mother, is for me, a great women. She gived me the life, she educated me...but she suffered a lot!


Spain, Muelas de los Caballeros, Febrary, 12th (year 1948)

muellas de los caballeros

My mother was born in 1948. First daughter of my grandmother (my legitim grand father died before...), she became the "nurse" and the second mother of her brothers and sisters. My grandmother met a man (father of Manolo and Irene, the two next children) but he died too. Years after she met Cirilo Perez, my "grandfather". My mother have got  9 brothers and sisters, two died when the were babies.
So, the context of Spain on this time wasn't glorious, Francisco Franco was the head of governement, a dictatureship! Franco makes Spain a very foreign country. Spain was rural, lateness and in ruins!

My mother, Maria, growing without the notions of games, of "luxury". She stayed fours days without nothing to eat, my grandmother haved got a broken heart since she saw her children in destress. My grandfather, Cirilo wasn't a very good husband. He never private my mother to eat that's right, he prefered to give his lunch to the children before to eat it! But he was an alcoholic and spend a lot of money. He didn't be a very nice husband.

My grandmother suffered a lot (she was abandoned by her mother...a rich and very cupid women). She was been receive in an Covent, she knowned what is the angry. After the Spanish war, she decided to have a family but she can't gave it all that she wanted to give. She was a good mother and make a lot of sacrificies!

My mother, his brother Manolo and her Sister Irene were very complices! They make a lot of "stupidities", for example, they destroyed a melon's garden because they were starving.
the funny time in the life of my mother was very short since she had to work at 7 years old. She was like Cosette or Princess Sarah (I know, my references are not very serious!)

Seven years old:

She found a job which consisted in became the servant of a rich and very bad family. She was like a " modern slave". She cooked, she did the housework etc...But the head of home, a very cupid women tell her that she never had to go to the kitchen since they were witches who eated young girls. My mother was affraid and never went to kitchen, she didn't eat during days and days. When my grandmother known it, she took my mother back to home.
The home was little and there was four childrens at home, my grandmother educated her babies with my mother. They didn't had beds at home so my mother sleeped at neighboor's home....on the cold ground! My grandmother never know it!

eight years old:

Madrid! 300 kilometers away from Alcañices, a little town where her familly was living (and where my grandmother is still living).

Can you imagine the situation? If you were here, do you think you would've been able to handle the situation? I think that my generation is lucky...I don't know if I would've been able to endure that....!

So, my mother was a little girl (eight years old)! She was working in the capital, Madrid! Fortunatly, she was in a good family, she  could play with the child of the family, she could have lunch with them but this happiness desappeared when she had to return to Alcañices. All the money that she made is kept by her mother. With it, my mother offered food to all her family!

My mother helpes my grandmother in educate her brothers and sisters. Helped by Manolo, she took Irene with her and, sometimes, went to play with the kids of the village.

She found a new job in Alcañices which is on the border of Portugal.


Christmas:

One of the kids of the village was a little girl, she was rich and crual. She hated my mother and she always laughed at her. "what beautifull shoes you have!" (my mother didn't have shoes sometimes)...
In Spain, kids received "christmas" presents with the "Magi". We say that when a little boy or a little girl was bad during the year, Baltazar would paint their faces with carbon. But my mother wasn't a bad girl! On some years, she received an orange (a big and precious present) but on other years, she didn't receive anything!. She couldn't explaine why the little and bad rich girl received dolls and new clothes! She didn't understand!
One year, she received a cartoon doll! She was very happy, Irene received another one. She played a lot with it, but one night, they gave it a bath . When they wanted to take it...the dolls were destroyed...

dreams of a little girl:

My mother had a dream ever since she was little. That dream was to have an House. I know that  I want to give this present to my parents!
When she was little and when she didn't have work, she used to play in a little forest with her brother Manolo and sister Irene. With rocks they delimited a kind of "house" with bedrooms, bathrooms etc...They have got an house for Manolo, one for Irene and another one for her! To them, shardes of glasses were  pieces of treasure!
My mother wanted to offer their parents a better life, she wanted to make money in order to give food to her young brothers and sisters, and, with her salary she was able to by my grandmother's house (which the help of Irene and Manolo).

For my brother and me, she wanted us to do higher studies and to have the luck that she didn't have!
She gave us love and education!


I will present you the life of my mother when she was 12 to 16 years old!

I will write a book: COEUR DE GEANT




We say in Spain "Gato dormilón, no pilla ratón"  (cat always sleeping never catch mouses)

Who is allready sleeping can't make money since he doesn't work.

What can I say about my mother ?
...
She doesn't have luck...she never sleeped a lot and about making money....utopic idea!