Today's my Grandma Mary's 86th birthday!
She's played a huge role of who I am today. She basically raised me as my brothers, cousins and I stayed at her house after school and during the summer for most of my childhood. That was until my family moved to Lockhart, but even then, we frequently made the trip to Austin to see her, spending weekends and holidays crammed into her kitchen.
My brother Joseph, me, and cousins Lisa and Jaime with Grandma Mary.
She's my definition of a strong woman. Grandma Mary ran the house. What she said, goes and good luck trying to change her mind.
We used to joke that summers at Grandma's was like going to church camp, because we not only had to pray every day (and before every meal), we also had to say the rosary, study the bible and sing songs. Music always filled my grandma's house, which helped inspire my love for music.
Grandma is our family's glue and I can't express enough on how much she means to me.