Hola, Jolene Navarro, checking in from the Texas Hill Country.
I had planned to tell you about the Tree of Life project my students and I are working on for the celebration of San Antonio’s three-hundred-year anniversary. Many cultures use trees as symbols of life, roots that we need in order to grow, to grow a core trunk that enables us to stand strong so that the limbs can reach up and cradle the fruit. The fruit that is designed to give new life when it leaves.
The tree of life starts with creation (the gifts from God) and often highlights a biblical story from Adam and Eve to the Nativity scene. Then added to the tree are items that tell a personal story of a family or individual. If you want more information there is a lnk on the picture of the clay Tree of Life.
Tree of Life. Mexican Folk Art
But as life often does, it puts us on a different path. Tuesday was one of those days. My husband called me at work. His mother had passed.
Writing next to the Frio River at the Frio Springs Cabins, Leakey Texas
So now I find myself writing in a very special place and thinking of a very special woman.
This little town in the Texas Hill Country raised my grandmother and father, a place that introduced my parents. A place that raised my husband and then introduced us. My parents married here. I was married here on the banks of the Frio River.
My great-grandparents and grandparents rest in this land.
Now we are here again to put to rest and to celebrate the life of one of the kindest, humblest, loving woman I have ever met. My mother-in-law. But she was so much more than a legal connection. She was a mother of the heart.
God and family were the center of her life. As a young mother, she left her home country of Mexico and followed her husband to Texas, They made many trips to California to work in the fields. One of the stories I heard over and over from her eleven children was that wherever they lived she made it into a home. She always had fresh tortillas and something warm on the stove, ready to feed whoever came through her door. She worked the gardens, rode horses, washed jeans in a tub and did it all with a smile on her face, not a word of complaint, but she did sing and she listened more than she spoke.
The world is a better place because of her, and I am a better person.
Sitting on our cabin porch I look over the landscape, and I think of the endless flow of the river and the hundred-year-old oak that is growing on the side of this slope. Its roots are growing around a large bolder reaching deep to hold its place. Despite the obstacles it has faced, it is still standing and flourishing.
Even though she is gone from this world Francisca Navarro produced fruit that is still giving and will for several generations.
Navarro Family. A mother with her Eleven children and their families in Leakey Texas
I think about the Tree of Life project and it takes on a new meaning for me. Out of clay each of us is to pick something that represents creation, something that is God-given. I had made plans but now I know that I need something that represents not only my parents and grandparents but an item that shows the love Francisca Navarro had for her God and her family.
Out of clay, I have started building a hen sitting on a nest. On the box, she sits on are images of cowboys, rivers and stars.
A piece of my life’s journey will be a small part of a forty-foot Tree of Life along with seven hundred other stories. But Francisca Navarro is a huge part of my journey. She raised a boy into a man that is everything good and kind. My husband, Jesus Alfredo “Fred” Navarro is just one of the fruits she gave the world.
There are some threads you will always see in my stories. Love of God and family. I can’t imagine writing a story without family dynamics. Some good, some bad. How do we react? How do we forgive? How do we love? How do we except love and forgiveness?
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None of us are perfect and as we walk through this life we need to treat others with kindness. As a teacher, I find that some of the hardest students to love are the ones that probably need it the most.
I hope as I move forward I am showing God’s love in everything I do.
Tell me about a person that influenced your life’s journey. Someone that you have lost, but they made you a better person.
Jolene’s life, much like her stories, is filled with faith, family, and all of life's wonderful messiness. She knows that, as much as the world changes, people stay the same. Good and evil. Vow-keepers and heart breakers. Jolene married a vow-keeper who showed her that holding hands and dancing in the rain never gets old. She loves creating stories of love and faith in her much loved Texas.
Hi Jolene, I’m sad to hear about your family’s loss. What a beautiful tribute to your mother-in-law and her legacy, what a blessing to know that you will be together again- this time forever!
I love the connection between trees and life- when both our boys were born, we planted unique trees to commemorate their birth. My father-in-law did the same, and our boys enjoy seeing “their” trees when we visit.
Prayers and blessings to you:)
Hi Jolene, thanks for sharing your family’s heritage and story. Sorry to hear about your family’s loss, but a tribute. Interesting thoughts about your Tree of Life project. During genealogy research, generations are recorded on a family tree. One’s heritage and faith are the roots that keep us grounded. Best wishes.
Oh I love the planting of the trees! That is beautiful. <3
YES! I didn’t even think of the term Family Tree. As humans we are connected to God’s nature in so many ways. :) Thank you
I am so sorry for your loss! But this is a wonderful, encouraging post and tribute to your mother-in-law. My mother-in-law has been gone for 5 years, but I still miss her! She was a lady of faith and kindness. I learned so much from her, and miss all the hours we spent just sitting and talking. She raised a family of 7 kids, and I will always be thankful for the values that she instilled in them. And especially for giving me my wonderful, loving husband. Words can’t even express what he is to me, but he helps me to see Jesus.
That is beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
I am sorry about your loss. this is a fantastic post. this is a great tribute to your mother in law and about family. I lost my mom who made me who I am today. I only hope to be have the godly woman that she was. I have a teacher friend that says the same thing.
Both of my parents have passed on. Last weekend was Thanksgiving in Canada, and I told my little grandgirls stories about the greatgrandparents they never knew. That provides a link between generations, too.
I’m sorry for your loss, Jolene. Your mother-in-law sounds like an amazing godly woman, and I’m sure you will miss her always. (((Hugs)))
Yes, I lost both of my parents when they were way too young, but I heard something the other day that really stuck with me. Instead of focusing on what you have lost think of all the things you got to do. Thank you for stopping in.
Tat is beautiful. I lost my parents why too young – my two youngest missed out on getting to know them. But we spend a great deal of time with both of their families. Through them my children have gotten to know them. My grandfather died before I was born, but he had a diary he keep during his service in WW2 – Through his words and my mother and aunts’ memories I feel as if I know him. :)
Beautiful tribute.
Your mother-in-law sounds like a very special woman. Someone who had a positive influence on my life was my high school Bible Bowl coach who passed away unexpectedly last December.
I’m so sorry for your loss, Jolene! Please accept my condolences. And what a beautiful tribute to your mother-in-law!
Thank you <3
I’m so very sorry for your loss, Jolene. Thinking about you and your family.