Friday, August 8, 2008

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)



21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Buf... este rollo femme fatale tuyo me pone los pelos como escarpias...

Anonymous said...

Buf... este rollo femme fatale tuyo me pone los pelos como escarpias...

Cannelle Et Vanille said...

que verdades dices a veces esti... esta foto me ha puesto los pelos de punta de emocion.

Anonymous said...

Me encanta!!!
Me acordaré de las sabias enseñanzas de la madre!
qué bonito, de verdad.

Jill said...

sometimes i feel like the mother in your story, trying to figure out who my daughter will become and the best advice to give her on how to survive and be happy. what a responsibility! you are right, nothing prepares you for the vertigo of motherhood!

mansuetude said...

motherhood is a most complicated of loves--and often a story only half spoken outloud . ?

Eleanor said...

This post is very powerful. That phrase "the vertigo of becoming a mother" is just perfect, and the drawings are miraculous.

Alexandra Hedberg said...

being a mother is something special - but having a son is different than having daughters ... it's harder to identify, but at the same time you kind of discover what it is to be a man through a son...

have a nice weekend!

Alexandra Hedberg said...
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Alexandra Hedberg said...
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Jo said...

se me puso chinita la piel al leer esto!!

Christine Clemmensen said...

Wow. I love your stories. You are extremely talented, Esti, you master the language so beautifully. Once again amazed:) By drawings and by words.

Esti said...

alexandra, your words are so interesting. I'd never thought of women understanding men through the experience of having sons. What an appealing idea. An inspiring... I might be stealing it from you for a future story, if you don't mind. It gives me so many images...

jorge, no es nada concreto, ni nada en contra de nadie... es sólo lenguaje, un poco poético, un poco dado a pincelar un imaginario que me he creado.

:)

lisa solomon said...

yes - girls should grow up strong confident.... you are a wonderful mother - i am sure

jimena said...

Ser madres es la misión más importante que tenemos, para así seguir creciendo tanto madre como hijo.
Es muy lindo!!!!
y seguro que nuestras madres dejaron un legado en nosotras para que podamos aprender a ser madres también.

jimena said...

Muy linda historia , Esti!!!!

aimee said...

this is such a complicated concept and you've illustrated it beautifully, esti. i always, always wonder whether i'm choosing the right words to help my girls grow. and every day i experience that vertigo of motherhood.

Katrina said...

oh esti, you continue to inspire! i absolutely adore this drawing. i read the quote once "hauntingly beautiful" and ever since i've tried to find bits of that in my own work. here, you have made something "hauntingly beautiful" in the most wonderful sense.

Roxana said...

oh such a wonderful world you have here... I can't take my eyes away from these drawings... and the story is so powerful, so intense and yet so simple... I am happy I found your blog...

Ciara Brehony said...

Ok. This is my favourite one so far...!

Désirée said...

Me encantan los dibujos y las historias.
Lo dicho, precioso blog, de verdad.