Josephine Ramirez was a natural born leader. She was cut from the same cloth as Alexander the Great & General Patton. That is no exaggeration either, simply ask anybody that spent a significant amount of time around her & I am sure that they will be able to share at least one anecdote with you that will validate this statement.
My grandma had one of the most domineering personalities I have ever come across. There was no question that, whatever the situation was, she was in charge. She was born to lead. A good example of this is that although she never worked or held a job, she handled all of the families finances & accounting. I use to see her at the kitchen table, soap opera's on the T.V., as she counted money & crunched numbers. Working out the monthly bills in her little notebook.
I lived with my grandmother off & on for close to ten years & in that period I came to value the relationship I shared with Josephine. She was quite possibly the greatest influence on my life. She taught me a wealth of knowledge that I utilize to this very day. From her example I learned the advantages of managing your money & paying your bills on time to the significance of making tough decisions without procrastination. She also taught me the importance of keeping plenty of clean, freshly laundered clothes on hand.
I want to talk about washing clothes for a minute, because when it came to doing laundry, Granny was absolutely obsessive about it. I remember when we all lived in the Terra Bella house together, Granny, Tata, Nino Alex, Romie, Raquel, my mom, Rosie & Me. The window of opportunity to do ones laundry was extremely small. My grandmother always had the machines filled with her clothes either soaking in bleach or waiting for the rinse cycle. Just because the house had a laundry room didn’t mean it had anything to do with you getting your clothes cleaned. Those machines were for granny’s use first & foremost & if she decided you could sneak a load in than it was your lucky day. Because you never bypassed Grandma Josie’s permission to use those machines, you always asked for her okay.
Josie was also extremely finicky & peculiar when it came to what she liked. From the way she took her coffee to the clothes she wore, if she didn’t approve of the presentation then you had to go back & start over until you got it right. I remember how, although she had a closet full of new clothes she would rotate between the same three outfits over & over that were her favorite.
My Grandma Josie was not an affectionate person by any means. She was not the type that would drown you in a sea of kisses upon seeing you at a family function. Her love was held deep inside her & was quite profound when she opened her Heart & allowed you a glimpse of its greatness. Her love was most obvious when it came to her generosity. Josie gave a lot of herself & what she had during her lifetime. I knew I could stay with her whenever I needed to & that her door was always open to me. Now that she has passed, I no longer have that. I realize now that I am truly on my own. The fact that Josephine was not “touchy-feely” in her affection made the times that she would kiss you or hug you or say something nice to you that more special & valuable because like a beautiful gem those moments were rare & they were precious.
My grandma was a very exceptional & beautiful woman. She had a manner to her that spoke of royalty. She was very much a queen in the way she carried herself & managed her family. She was a natural leader & authority & power came easy to her. In her youth she was quite stunning & she stood out from the crowd. She lived a full & complete life that spanned many different eras. She lived through the entire 20th century & was witness to every calamity & accomplishment this nation experienced. I looked up to my granny for her ability to lead & manage & I feel the world is a much smaller place without her here to guide it. I will miss her very much & I can’t wait to see her on the other side.
