MAMA

As a daughter it’s hard to see beyond the “mom” parts to the woman that exists beyond. So I’ll start at the beginning. Ana Aguiar was born at home, without a doctor or even a midwife present. Her umbilical cord wasn’t cinched properly and she nearly bled to death, but miraculously she survived. At 12 she moved from Portugal to the U.S, worried that there might not be music in America. Obedient to her traditional parents, she was quiet and shy through school and didn’t hang out much with friends. She was married at what then was the very late age of 26 and became Ana Lucas, housewife, and soon mother.

I knew her first as a strict and funny stay-at-home mom. When us kids were all in school, she began working with my dad at the Round Table Pizza he managed. Eventually they bought their own pizza restaurant, which she helped run. A few years later they bought a second restaurant which she managed on her own. I realized she had gone from “just as a mom” to a smart, tough business owner. She became more the woman she always was inside.

After selling her store she “retired” to a life of volunteer work and helping out at our original restaurant. A natural teacher, she went back to school to for her ESL credential and began teaching English to immigrants at local churches. She travels, reads, and explores place and ideas. She is no longer a dutiful daughter, or a swamped housewife, or a harried mother. She is her own woman, living her life grandly and loving every minute. I am so proud to have her as a mother, because she is so much more than just that. I love her so much.

Happy Birthday Wonderful You!