1. I never really see my grandmother
2. She is hidden...hidden from the world
3. She is ashamed..ashamed of her faults...her downfalls
4. Her insecurity has been dwelling through her soul
5. I have rarely seen my grandmother smile
6. probably because she lost her innocence at a very young are
7. For the first years of her life she lived in Honduras
8. It is a beautiful place... but its beauty.... its beauty has been covered in blood
9. Her father was one of them...one of the killers
10. Her mother was consistently abused and she could do nothing
11. Her parents felt the financial failure of Honduras
12. and they seen opportunity in a foreign land
13. Her new life was in America....
14. She met new people in America....including new lovers....including him
15. My Grandmother was 15 when she was raped by my grandfather-
16. -a man that I never knew-only heard about
17. My grandmother was forced to lose her virginity
18. Forced...in the land of freedom
19. Forced then left alone.... Left alone to rot
20. She spent 9 tireless months under the support of her 9-5 job and housing from the government
21. Soon enough, My grandmother gave birth to a baby boy on June 13, 1967
22. That baby boy was my father
23. My father was hers to take care of
24. She had no money for clothes, toys, or even a decent home
25. Nothing for her or her child
26. She worked one job to pay a months rent
27. and another job to buy the basic essentials to living
28. Conclusively, my grandmother was never home
29. My grandmother had 4 more children after my dad
30. and she had learned if you grow up with nothing
31. you end up with nothing.... Her life was like a board game,
32. she tried as much as she could to keep moving forward
33. Her housing was never permanent for that reason
34. I see my grandmother and I see myself
35. although she looks nothing like me
36. my grandmother knows what it is to struggle
37. For that reason I have a connection with her
38. To keep moving forward...no matter wats the obstacle
39. Today when I see my grandmother,
40. I see strength, love, passion, and the will to move on
41. She is so tiny, literally 4' 8'' but I know
42. She is one of the strongest females alive
43. She is the real leader, the real hero
44. I call her my grandmother... my siblings call her yoda.