The women they had become

Desde muy pequeñas fueron mujeres de ojos grandes, curiosos y atrevidos. Su madre enseguida reconoció en ellas las mujeres que serían.

A Leo, que era muy generosa y trataba siempre de agradar, le decía: “Cuando alguien suene humillante o miserable, responde pausadamente y sin ira, da dos sorbos y ábrele la puerta indicándole el camino. No hay sitio para nadie así en tu vida. Cuando alguien te devuelva el doble de lo que has perdido, hazle un sitio a tu lado. ”

A Gloria, que era perfeccionista y exigente, le decía: “Cuando alguien te alce la voz, llene tus oídos con desprecio o asegure no tener tiempo para pararse a contemplar el mundo a través de tu ventana, sacúdete las migas de la falda, abre el armario y haz la maleta. Recuerda que los caminos de ida son cortos y los de vuelta, largos.”

La piel de la niñez la dejaron por el camino. Despidieron la adolescencia cuando aprendieron a cruzar las líneas, a acercarse a otro y a alejarse de nuevo. Tuvieron romances, buenos y malos, momentos de lucidez y de sofocada humillación, de alegría estrepitosa y de tristeza incomprendida. De pronto entendieron que todo lo que habían aprendido les hizo elegir bien, pero nada les preparó para el vértigo de ser madres.

Since they were kids they were big eyed, curious and bold eyed, women. Their mother soon realized the kind of women they would become.

She said to Leo, who was extremely generous and was always trying to please: “If someone speaks to you in a humiliating or cretin manner, answer him back wrathlessly, sip your drink slowly and open the door for him to exit. None of his kind should find room in your life. If somebody gives you back twice what you have lost, make room for him by your side”

She said to Gloria, the perfectionist and the justly demanding: “If someone raises his voice at you, fills your ears with scorn or states not to have enough time to stare the world through your window, shake the bread crumbs off your skirt, open the closet and start packing. Remember it takes shorter to go than to return.”

Their childhood skin was left behind as they grew. They dismissed their teenage years when they learnt to cross the lines, to approach someone they liked and to move on again. They had their share of romance, good and bad ones, moments of lucidity and suffocated humiliation, great joy and incomprehensible sadness. Suddenly, they understood that all they had gathered and learnt led them to make a good choice, but nothing had prepared them for the vertigo of becoming a mother.

(This is another drawing for my autumn project)