"When she transformed into a butterfly, the caterpillars spoke not of her beauty but of her weirdness. They wanted her to change back into what she had always been. But she had wings."
As I entered my 20's a mantra streamed into my consciousness which stemmed from the memory of my Grandma, who I called Nene. I don't know why I called her that, I'd have to ask my 3 year old self.
The mantra I speak of began to take a significant form in my life after she passed away April 8, 2012.
If I could sum up my Nene in a few words I would describe her as loving, brutally honest, tough as nails, understanding, stern, and pretty kick ass.
She always had this way of knowing things she shouldn't that made her have an "otherworldly" feel; maybe that's just Grandma's in general.
While I was trying to decide between colleges, my Nene looked at me and said you need to go to school in the mountains... so I did.
I set off on this journey into adulthood with her just having passed away.
As a child I would sit on her lap, on the porch of our old family house that everyone referred to as "The Hill" and watch my cousins play, my Granny Juanita garden, and talk about everything.
She would always call butterflies, flutterbys and they were her favorite. She loved yellow monarchs the most being that her favorite color was yellow. Its probably because she was a ray of sunshine herself.
Nene would bribe me into making her a dessert called Oreo Pudding, even though chocolate gave her migraines. She would cheat every time we would play the card game war and just laugh about it. She would tell me what I needed to hear even when I didn't want to hear it.
Funny thing is as I entered college I began to notice an overwhelming amount of yellow butterflies and I may sound a little weird but I feel her presence every time I see one. I still feel like she is guiding me.
This is what led to the creation of my mantra,
#followtheyellowbutterflies
xoxo,
Kayla Graham
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