Every year, at her birthday, I share a testimony to the life of my Grandmother, Carmen Gascon.  

May it inspire you, today.

Today is my grandmother’s birthday. She was born on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1914.

Her name was Carmen.

At 16. Carmen, is a beautiful, confident young woman.

She immigrated from Mexico to the United States. She had a brilliant mind.

This is a photo of her mother, my Great Grandmother, Felipa.  A strong, determined, lovely woman in her own right.

Today on the day of my grandmother’s birth, I celebrate her life filled with kindness and generosity shared with all and the amazing legacy she left to my family. She was dedicated to her faith, her family and her profession as an educator.

She attended the University of California at Los Angeles, UCLA, at a time where most women of her day were denied the opportunity. She was fascinated with the study of languages and spoke English, Spanish, French, German and Italian.  She graduated Summa Cum Laude and became a high school foreign language instructor and adjunct community college professor. She was 100% convinced that through the power of education, people could rise above poverty and achieve their dreams. I still believe that to be true.

I am the oldest grandchild and with that came a few perks!

One of the perks I enjoyed was the ability to travel extensively with my grandparents. We had great adventures,my grandparents and I in Latin America and Europe. We also had a week-end trip to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The photo above is of me with my grandfather on my first traveling experience. We took the train from Los Angeles to the Canyon and I loved it!  I also love the the camera, hanging off my neck. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed taking photographs. It’s a hobby that I continue to nurture and rediscover!

My grandmother passed away in 1992, just 4 days after visiting with me and my youngest son, Aaron who was just a year old at the time. The visit took place at John Douglas French Center for Alzheimer’s Disease. Her time there, although challenging, highlighted the fact that she had a brilliant mind, was extensively well read, was a lover of God and books and foreign films, a global traveler, a patron of the arts, opera, concerts and musicals, a singer and a piano player. She was not only well loved by her family, but by all those whose lives she touched at the center.

This could be a story with a sad ending, but it’s not. It’s only the beginning of a story yet to be told as I continue to seek my passion based on the power of her words and actions in my life.

My Grandmother, planted the seeds of faith, hope and dreams in my life. She stood up for her family in times of adversity. She taught me to be strong, even though sometimes I didn’t want to be. She held firm to the belief that, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” And that the key to opening that door to the future was education. And for that, I will be forever grateful.

This is Random Acts of Kindness Week, #RAKweek , 2014.  It reminds me to consider that my grandmother was a kind and generous woman and set this example daily.

What have you done this week, to reinforce your daily journey of  modeling  kindness ?

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to TeachingWithSoul and connect with me on Twitter.