That’s what everyone called her, not because she was a grandmother, but because she commanded respect. She always dressed elegantly, spoke softly, and looked at people as if she truly understood them. She had money, yes, but she was never one to humiliate others by driving an expensive truck. I met her welding a fence at a house she had bought on the outskirts of town. I burned my hand because I was clumsy, and while everyone else was laughing at me, she was the only one who came over with water, some ointment, and a calmness that disarmed me.
From that day on he started treating me differently.
She lent me business books I could barely understand. She taught me how to pronounce English words without making me feel ignorant. She talked to me about small investments, about saving, about thinking ahead. No one my age had ever made me look so far. With her, for the first time, I felt that my life could be bigger than the workshop, the debts, and the parched earth of my house.
And yes, I fell in love.
