June 25, 2009

• Lidia and Ninfa

   Flowers are God’s undertones of encouragement to the children of earth.             ~Beulah

   

  Lidia and Ninfa turned 14 just two days ago. Seems so hard for me to believe that they are already that grown up!

  Since I’ve started this thing of writing out little character sketches of my family around the times of their birthdays…I shall now try to capture them a little.

  Lidia might be my hardest sister to capture. I’m not quite sure why…but she is so deep and hidden with her thoughts that she’s hard to get to know in a very deep kind of way…hard to put into a little box and understand.

  When I first met Lidia, she was 2 months old and I was 8. I adored her. Her and Ninfa were the first children my parents ever took in and I can still remember the endless joy they brought into my life. I toted them everywhere. I think I’d always subconciously wanted little sisters, and I found them…perfect. I remember the devastation I felt when I found out that their Gramma wanted them back. I think I cried for days. And then after 6 months, she changed her mind and I remember the happy day of going back to their little mud hut to pick them up and bring them back home with us. I was ecstatically happy!

  Lidia and Ninfa are twins and their mommy is a deaf mute. She came to visit them sometimes as they were growing up, and carrying on conversations with her was quite interesting. The spanish language already uses a lot of handmotions and speaking with her was all handmotions and pointing. She was actually very fun to “talk” to. I think she loved her daughters but was just completely incapable of taking care of them.

  While she was with her Gramma for those months is when her head got crooked. They would let her lie on a bed all day and she had to turn her head to look out the window so all that time of lying in one position got her head to grow a little crooked. It was the cutest, curliest little head…always bent to the side…almost quizzically. We went to a chiropractor to help fix it, and she had to have a little band tied around her head for a while. It soon straightened out and is unnoticeable now.

  She was always very smart…we could tell from the very start. She didn’t walk as soon as Ninfa but she could talk far sooner.

  She’s a clown. She would watch someone do something that made us all laugh and before she even fully understood what she was doing, she’d mimick people and have us in gales of laughter. She’s not scared of being the center of attention and having people surrounding her. It’s a strange combination. So silent about the depths of her heart, and yet, so confident.

  Lidia might be the funnest person to tease…ever. She has the most infectious giggle and I love provoking it. I used to make my rounds every night and tell all my sisters goodnight and she would always hide somewhere and wait for me to find her. It became a game. She’d lie as flat as she could beneath her covers and I’d pretend I didn’t see her and I’d talk with Yola or someone else nonchalantly ignoring her until I’d suddenly pounce on her out of nowhere and she’d squeal out giggles as I tickled her. Then I’d hug her and say goodnight.

  She was always the best at memorizing verses and stuff and she’d proudly recite them at “bala” speed to me as soon as she’d have them down pat.

  She’s been through so much. She’s not one to share her heart about the painful things going on inside her…but if I’d ask questions enough, she would talk…and her wise, commonsense-ish way of looking at things always amazed me.

  She called me “garroba” (lizard:) because of my tendency to sit outside hoping for a tan.

  She writes us all very faithfully. I think she might be the MOST faithful. She makes sure to send notes along with everyone that comes up and lets us know what is going on in her life…which means so VERY much to me…

  Lidia is loyal and kind and compassionate. She loves deeply and isn’t afraid to show it with random hugs and squeezes…or suddenly plopping into my lap for no other reason than knowing she could.

  Now for my favorite part: PICS!!!

  

  Her lopsided dimple is adorable:)

  

   

   

  One of my favorites of her:)

   

  This one captures so much…

   

  One of her giggling fits.

  

  I like the pensiveness in this one…

   

  Her sweetness.

  

  We both had candies in our mouths…it’s just funny:)

   

  This is her half-pleased, half-guilty look. She had just been caught as the person to sneakily attach something to the back of my skirt…:)

  

  Trying to look scarily angry…and not quite succeeding:)

   

  Doing her hair in braids…a long tedious job…

  

  But the results are fun:) (her and Ninfa both had shirts that said, “Blame my sister.”)

    

   

  The first word that pops into my head when thinking of describing Ninfa is simply “sweet.” She personifies sweetness in every way. She can even ALMOST manage to be sweet when she’s angry. I used to watch her when sister-fights would break out and instead of screaming or losing her temper, she’d mumble under her breath about things…it was so funny to watch!

  She’s phlegmatic to the very core of her little being. She doesn’t get extremely excited or angry without serious provocation. So it was always fun to see what it’d take to make her REALLY laugh. 

  She’s the kind of teaser that will be sitting beside you, and silently reach over and pinch you…completely out of the blue…hard enough to make you yelp and jump. She loves getting a reaction out of people.

  She had this sweet habit of patting my cheek whenever she felt like it. It was her equivalent of Lidia’s hugs.

  She was always very active as a little girl. She had a certain purse that was always attached to her arm…like it grew there…and she’d run through the house with it swinging and bouncing against her. She never walked. It was always all-out running, or a skipping jog at least. She was running through the house before Lidia even started walking. I guess it was more of a waddle than a run…at that age.

  She had this funny, cute habit of humming when she was looking at books. She would content herself with sitting on the couch with one book at a time (only pausing to toddle to the bookshelf and switch books:) for hours, softly humming to herself. It was the most fascinatingly adorable thing to watch.

  She had lots of words bottled up inside…and one question was enough to jiggle loose a flood. During the time that we shared a room, she’d talk non-stop every night until we were ready to go to sleep. It was so much fun…listening to her chatter…knowing she didn’t talk like this to everyone. It was a special privilege:)

  She’s non-confrontational. Kinda like me:) She doesn’t like conflict, and will shy away from it as much as possible. But some things were worth her standing up for. I remember that she’d always sit outside the door whenever Lidia got spanked. She’d sit there and cry for her sister…it was painfully beautiful.

  Ninfa is loyal…deep inside. Once she loves someone, and you win your way into her heart, she won’t desert you. The love she felt for Lidia surpassed all others. She always stuck up for her twin no matter what. She didn’t do it loudly or with great force. Just that quiet, stubborn way of hers…standing between her sister and anything that was against Lidia. It was almost odd. Lidia always seemed older and stronger than Ninfa…but it was the youngest who usually stood up for the older. It might also have something to do with Lidia’s propensity to get herself into scrapes:)

  

  

  Wondering what I’m doing…:)

  

  Her grin:)…I love this one.

  

  Her “indian hair”.

  

  

  Her sweetness…

  

  She hated pics…but would try her best to grin at the camera for me:)

     

  Being crazy:)

  

  I love this one…

  

  A while ago…

    

   

   

  Here’s both of them:)

   

  I absolutely LOVE the reckless joy in this pic! (Jessica took it, I think).

  

  The end:)

  me  

  • 6:54 pm
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