Padilla Genealogy and Blog

Elizabeth Padilla Alao - Nov 28

I have been thinking about Grandma a lot these past few days and how much she meant to me. I have a lot of good memories of Grandma. She was really good to me and always treated me extremely well. When I was sick at 10 she asked Dad and Mom to take me to her house so they left me there for a few days - I had lost 10 pounds before going to her house. I was pretty small when I was little so 10 pounds was kind of a lot at that time. She fed me soup that tasted like Heaven to me and she let me watch television non stop and she just talked to me like I was a princess. In no time I was well and back to my happy go lucky little self.

I remember when we'd go to her house she always made the simplest food but it tasted like Heaven. When she cooked ground beef she always made sure to clean it and rinse it a few times to get out as much blood as she possibly could and for some reason it made the ground beef taste much better. She made the best prune pie (or dried fruit pie) and the best biscochitos. There are so many things that she made that were so good.

I was always cold when I was little and she always had the toastiest house so when we'd visit it was always so cozy. I will never forget that either.

She was always there for our family and always provided so many things for us from couches to tables to having us spend time with her.

I know she was a little different in her way of thinking and maybe she was a little hard on some people, but to our family she was always so good.

And those bags of nuts and candy and oranges at Christmas time were such a treat. She was a cute lady and was so generous and for that I will be forever grateful.

Not to mention she picked the best Piñon ever.

I know she at first didn't really like Mom too much and wasn't like totally nice to her but by the end of Grandma's life, she was so grateful to Mom and considered her a saint. With as much as I adored Mom, it meant a lot to me to see that change of heart. Mom truly was and still is a saint in my book.

By the end of Grandma's life, I truly believe she had come full circle and really loved the Lord and our Heavenly Father.

I just wanted to share this and hope to hear some of your stories as well about our Grandmita.

I remember dusting her furniture. She had so many knick knacks. Whew!!! And a lot of lotions and perfumes too. Too cute she was. :o)

Benjamin Padilla - Nov 28

That was good to read. I remember she sang that song, "Thank you for being my hito, thank you for being my friend."

She was awesome

Edward Padilla - Nov 29

Grandma spoiled me. I have a lot of the same memories as Liz does. I loved going over to Grandmas, not just be spoiled but because she loved us some much and we could feel that. I remember walking with her to her mothers grave, actually it might have been her grandma. She was crying because she missed her so much. I was sad for Grandma because she was crying. As I got older, I got used to Grandma crying all the time; tears of sadness and other times tears of joy. One time all my friends were over the house and Grandma came over and she started to cry, I got a little embarrassed and said, "So how's the farm?". She instantly stopped crying, looked right at me and said, "Oh, you don't want me to cry mihito, that's ok". It was kind of funny but I was so selfish. I really do miss her.

Chris Padilla(Gmail) Nov 29

Liz, thank you for starting this!!!!!! I think it's awesome.

I had been thinking about Grandma too... I'm sure it was because Grandpo just passed and I was actually think about both.

LOVE:

I am extremely grateful to Grandma. She loved the Lord all her life and was baptized a member. She was always a little sickly all her life but at the same time always tried to take care of herself. She always was searching for a cure for herself which I admire greatly. In fact, the last attending doctor said she probably had Leukemia (sort of a blood cancer) for the last 15 years of her life but, because she took care of herself was able to function well.

BABY:

When I was a little boy, like Liz, wasn't gaining weight because mom was only 18 when she had me and didn't have the rich cream that you last 6 got... :) So, I started losing weight. Dad and Mom were worried about me so they talked to Grandma. Grandma was like, let me have him, I'll fatten him up. Yeeeaaaah. Boy did she. I looked like a ding dang Butterball turkey when she was done with me. No wonder I love Ice Cream... :)

HANG OUT:

I used to love to go to their house and sleep there, lay around, talk with them, go to the Farm with them, work with Grandpo and listen to Grandma talk about everything. I loved that they included prayer in everything they did and even though their prayers were a little rote, I loved how they always added blessings for Dad, Mom, Auntie Jojo and each grandchild by name at the end of their prayers. I learned things from them that I will take with me to the grave.

I will never forget that time they visited us and Grandma was washing dishes. We were all walking around the kitchen and living room. All of the sudden Mom was, "Edward!!!!" He turned around and said, "What?" He walked by Grandma and clipped her foot just right and never even realized it. Grandma fell backward and landed on her back. She got up and we all laughed, after making sure she wasn't hurt. :D

FOOD:

I loved grandma's cooking and was amazed that she would make weird things like biscochitos, panocha, burnt toast, liver, cooked bananas, Banana Cream Pudding and Nilla Wafers, Coffee, Chili, Chile Caribe, and Green Chili. I too loved the Orange, Nut and Candy Christmas bags. Not because they were great but because they were from Grandpo and Grandma. I loved the Nuts and Orange the most. The candy was probably mostly dumped in the trash or given to Edward... LOL... J/K bro.

THEIR HOME:

I loved that dad used to make us clean Grandma's house thoroughly. I still remember taking all the rugs outside and beating them against the house and vacuuming.

I loved the two garden's they kept outside their house and how Grandma would sweep the dirt outside her front door and then throw water on the dirt to make it pack down to keep the dust down. I also loved how the soil in the vegetable garden was so fertile and soft. I used to love the Cherry and Apricot Trees they had outside. I was sad whenever one of those trees would die.

CRYING:

Yes Grandma cried because she loved us so much and sort of thought we were dying of hunger. She always complained a little because Dad and Mom had SO MANY KIDS. Mom used to hide the next pregnancy a little because of it. :) I think that's why they used to come with couches and stuff... :) Grandma was always so happy to see us and cried quite a bit... sort of like I'm doing now... But, she used to bless us... "Oh thank you Jesus, bless this family, by the blood of Jesus..." I know it's a little funny but, sort of what she learned at some of the churches she attended.

A COUPLE:

Grandma loved Grandpo a lot and she would wake up at 3 or 4 to make him a breakfast, coffee, and a lunch. Then later in the day she would take a nap to catch up. They used to go all over together. To pick piñon and go to McDonalds. To visit us in the North or go to Albuquerque to visit Auntie Ida, Uncle Raymond, or when they were younger to California to visit Auntie Doovie (SP?). I'm not sure where Bailon lived but, we'd see him on occasion too. I really miss those days because I got to meet so many of the family. I think Dad got a lot of those social tendencies from Grandma.

Francisco Padilla - Nov 30

I remember grandma was the nicest person. She treated me like gold. I was a bratty kid sometimes and she still loved me tons. I remember being very judgmental as a kid. I think I could have treated her better. I hurt her feeling one time and I felt so bad afterward. I think I was only 4 years old. What happened was someone told me that she was a cucandera, and I asked what that was. They told me it was a witch. So one day when I was in a bratty mood, she told me to shut the door and I told her that she was a witch and she started crying. I felt so bad. My "judgmentality" decreased after that. I can't wait to see her again and give a long hug and thank her for her faith in the Lord. What a strong woman.

Ang, Ben and I loved going to her house. We would climb the walls, walk through the yard/garden, and climb the big apricot tree. From that tree we were able to get on top of the shed. She and Grandpo always had sweets in the front living room, man that room was cold. I loved the wafers and the strawberry candies wrapped with the Goo-y filling. I liked their stove for some reason. I think it's because they had these brightly colored spoons with faces on them hanging above the oven. I remember mom always doing the dishes while dad talked at the tiny table they had. I loved walking into the back room, especially on a cold day. The hall was awesome because they had tons of pictures to the left on the chest of drawers with the big mirror (kind of like the one from moms and dads room back in the day). The reason I liked the back rooms on a cold day is because the two stoves, the stove in the middle bedroom and the stove in the family room. I remember when Ben and I came back from living with Edward and Cheri, and she told mom that she thought I looked too skinny. She came up to me, pinched my cheek and said, "You need to eat more." I smiled and gave her a hug. She passed away shortly after that. I'm glad dad was able to attend the funeral. I love her a lot. She had great family values. :)