Here's To You: Consuela and her Tamales

I want to start a chain of blogs. I will call them "Here's to you..." These blogs will just be about people I meet or run into that I think deserve some mentioning and/or praise. This will be the first of what I hope to be many. 

So, here's to you Consuela!

A few weeks ago Bryce and I were at Walmart just doing some grocery shopping. Just as we were about to leave, a small old lady standing with a cart full of corn flour and chicken asked us, "Hablas español?" And for my spanish-challenged friends, "Do you speak spanish?" By the tone of her voice, you could tell she had asked this question to many people already. Bryce answered with a resounding yes, as just the other day we were talking about how we never really get a chance to practice spanish conversationally with others. Then Bryce and the small old lady spoke for a minute or two and she handed him a small piece of paper. Bryce came back to me and said, she needs a ride. On the piece of paper was her address.

As we walked out to our car (that hadn't been cleaned for much too long) and subsequently drove to her home, we made introductions and small talk. We found out that her name was Consuela and that she was from Mexico. She had lived in Utah for a short time, but oh how she loved it here - the temples were so close! She spoke very very fondly of the temples and the inspired work that goes on through those holy doors. We also found that her husband had been sick for a long time and that she makes tamales to sell every Wednesday and Friday. 

She was very sweet to us. When she found out that we were expecting she oo-ed and aww-ed and held my hand as tenderly as one would hold an injured dove. She wouldn't let me carry any of the groceries and gave me many well wishes. She was such a sweet spirit and she definitely lifted up our day to a new level of happiness. 

We got to her home not too many minutes later. It was a humble house, but you could tell that she loved it dearly. As we parted ways hugs flew all around, she wished us well many times, and told Bryce to take good care of me and not to let me lift anything. She invited us to her tamale stand and waved goodbye until we could no longer see her. 

What a sweet spirit and an amazing lady. Instead of leaning on the government or the church for financial support, she made her own little tamale business. She loved the temple. She loved people, strangers even. In fact, she radiated love. From the moment we met to the moment we departed she had nothing but kind and happy things to say, even though life had been hard on her. It was a blessing for us to meet her and be able to serve her in some small way.