With my Great-Grandmother passing on last week, I am fully present to how blessed my life is and how it wouldn't have been possible without her (and all of the Grandmothers who have come before me). I realize how blessed I am to have known my Great-Grandmother and to have had her in my life for so long. I was truly raised by a village. Not only did I know her, but I lived with her, was raised by her, held by her. I come from a line of powerful women. My Great-Grandmother, Grandmother, Aunt, and my Mother all raised me. Alongside them stood my Great-Grandfather, Grandfather, Uncle, and (step)Father (who fully stepped in to be my father and take me as his first child when I was a baby). They've watched me grow, learn, stumble, get up, take a stand, love, find myself, be myself, graduate, get married, move away, move back home, loving me through it all. Through them, through my Great-Grandmother, I have learned (lived) community. Living with her has taught me so much about loving and taking care of each other. It was never anything that was considered as a decision in my family. It was just what we did for each other, even when it was hard. It was (is) a way of being. Since she passed, I have been giving thanks daily in prayer for my Grandmother’s life and, in turn, for mine. My heart is full of gratitude for all of the Grandmothers of the world. They have made the way for us. I have been laying down prayers, as well and especially, for the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, who were recently in New York holding prayer and sharing their teachings. The 13 Indigenous Grandmothers formed a Global Alliance in 2004 to pray for the next seven generations to come. I give thanks to my Grandmothers and Mothers for teaching me how to live this good way. I give thanks to all of the ones who came before me, making the way for me and my husband to create a beautiful life together and to carry on this prayer for the next seven generations to come!
And so it is.
with so much love and gratitude,
Amanda Christine Nichols-Clay
"We want food for the mother earth, for the children, for everybody." --Grandmother Julieta Casimiro
"The Spirit of the Feminine, right now, is embracing humanity. We have the power. We've been born knowing. And we're being reminded of our power right now." --Grandmother Flordemayo