This past week, we received word that my Great-Grandmother passed away in Spain.  She was well into her nineties and had been bed-ridden for the past few years due to severe Rheumatoid Arthritis and Alzheimer's.  In the wake of her death I find myself reflecting on her life and thinking about the legacy of the family that she left behind.     We called her "Madrina" which means "godmother" in Spanish.  The reason for this is that she baptized my father and was actually his godmother so, since he always called her that, the name stuck.  She came from a time when women worked in the fields alongside their husbands and never complained about anything.  I remember her telling me the story of how she gave birth in the old house, upstairs from where they kept the cows.     Back when I was a kid, I remember feeling like she was really old fashioned and like I couldn't relate to her.  She dressed in black as was customary for widows back in the day in Spain and always wore a kerchief … [Read more...]