26 April 2012 -
We say good bye to my Avó
Somebody asked me today what I remembered most about my Avó, what made her special?
Even though the memories just flooded my mind, I could not get the words out. So now I post a special dedication to My special Avó.
To all the things Avó
To being a mom of 3, Avó of 11, and Avózinha of 16.5
To being a devote Catholic and a passion for the Catholic life
To crochet blankets, "doilies", slippers, hats and toilet seat covers
To home made Potato bread
To Bolo preto
To the weekly Friday cake bake for the local Portuguese and English Priests
To atum (tuna) Madeira style (no one has been able to replicate the mix of olive oil vinegar & parsley)
To freshly made broas and Madeira butter biscuits
To pajama birthday gifts
To deodorant Christmas gifts
To coffee cups and Easter eggs for Easter gifts
To 10 layers of winter clothing during spring... mostly black, navy and cream
To long family lunch tables for Easter, Good Friday and Christmas
To putting up Avó's Christmas tree and making the Lapinha (nativity)
To fighting with Avô about expanding his veggie garden and stealing sections of our playground
To afternoons investigating the back rooms filled with dusty old hidden treasures
To Nandos wings
To a continuous supply of wicks, chappies, milky bars and mint imperials
To milo
To learning the Zulu language
To driving 140km/hr on the highway in the Toyota Corolla
To getting her drivers license before it was socially acceptable for a woman to drive
To being stubborn
To always telling me I was too thin (gonna miss that)
To receiving old money (A4 size R20 notes) on my Birthday, the Rand value equal to your age
To teaching us the Rosary from a very early age
To RTP (Portuguese TV chanel)
To Ponta do Pargo flats
To cheese bread
To malasadas on Shrove Tuesday (there is alot of food on this list)
To receiving pinches during church
To giving communion to the sick on Wednesday mornings
To going to funerals, even if you just met the person once, or you know them via via someone
To asorda (sp?) soup = boiled water, soggy bread and eggs floating around
To caldo verde and yummy home made chicken soup
To old VHS tapes of Mary Poppins and Herbie
To VHS tapes (Avo used to tape random things from RTP, then give us the VHS to watch)
To the formal lounge...where all the statues were and was out of bounds
To the Palm Street house
To semelhas (potatoes) and couve (gabage)
To cous cous... making and eating it
To being proud of having a travelling Priests room
To always being so happy to see us
Avó always said " Nao esquecas da tua Avó em Kempton Park" (Don't forget you Gran from Kempton Park), well Avó you pretty much chose the right day, I will never forget my Avó from Kempton Park!
May your soul Rest in Peace. Watch over us Avó, pray for us and protect us here on Earth. We will miss you dearly.
