07/17/2022
I was born in a Communist Romania and I am grateful for that as different as that might sound. It taught me how to be resourceful, independent and just make do with what I have. And plenty I had: great friends, endless summers at my grandmaās house together with my cousins, endless and hopeless sometimes trips to the countryside with my dad looking for food when the stores where literally empty, endless winters doing homework at the light of a candle, and cold, the cold that was making me dream of palm trees and warm beaches, books and many more books that I liked reading to just make sense or rather escape that world that was too complicated and mostly restrictive.
Iām coming from a strong lineage of women that knew how to just be and how to just love no questions asked.
My paternal grandma: a woman that learned how to write when she put her youngest son (my dad) in school but knew the Bible and all the Greek Orthodox masses by heart. You could not cheat my grandma at any transaction and I was convinced that she had a calculator hidden under her babushka scarf or somewhere in her braided bun. I even spied on her while she was combing her long hair to make sure it was nothing there. It was only the wit of a peasant woman that had to come ahead every day at the market knowing very well that her familyās future depended on her despite of not having any formal education. She saw deep inside you with only one look and she knew what you needed without asking. Iāve learned from her to see beneath the surface, to find the good in every bad and to stand up when I feel like giving up.
My maternal grandma: a woman that was so selfless and that always gave, gave and gave even more. We as grandchildren felt her love surround us in an armor that made us strong, nursed us to health when we were sick and gave us smiles every time we cried for whatever reason. We were her sunshine and she always told us so a million times a day sealing the affirmation with noisy smooches on both cheeks that we, crazy kids, used to wipe off right after, slightly embarrassed. I wish I could somehow save those kisses and transport them in this present day to heal the wrongs of the world.
My mom and I are the same and the more the time is passing the more Iām becoming like her: the mannerisms in doing things ever so methodically and with a purpose, her ways of talking and laughing. My mom is the cautious one, the one that is organized and loves pretty things around the house, that is quick to act but quick to love you more than you can imagine. Iāll forever remember the breakfasts that consisted in 2 eggs, a piece of toast and nothing else that always had a fresh folded napkin a spoon, fork and knife, water glass, tea mug (most of this setting was of course non necessary for a 6 years old) and it was decorated with parsley leaves and olive slices on a random Tuesday morning. Because āwe either do things right or we just donāt botherā as a translation of āGo big or go homeā.
I think mostly everything that I know now Iāve learned by watching these women and many others. They always protected, loved and hoped the best for me by saying: watch now, youāll have plenty of time to do it when you will grow up!
And how I can forget my always encouraging father that showed me the strength is something that we learn continuously, that good is always the option, that respect is important and is it to be practiced no matter who we are or where we are because that makes us human: the capacity to choose the right thing.
I guess I was supposed to tell you what schools I went to, or what am I the best at, or what I specialize in or that I excel at oh so many things, right?! Of course we all have great talents that are more or less obvious. However I think that who I am today as a person and as a professional is a sum of the people that gave me so selflessly so I can in turn be able to give more.
My path was not a streamlined one as I am a person of many interests and a curiosity to match them. I understood that I was passionate to help and to give. For many years it felt that being in the corporate world even if rewarding and full of opportunities it did not match what I was feeling inside. Once in US I had the eternal immigrantās dilemma: how do I pay my bills? What am I really good at? How do I start from scratch?! My cousins told me: youāre good at teaching and you are patient why donāt you try to be a nanny? So I went with it reluctantly at first as it was a new domain for me the Business graduate that always worked in formal environments involving financial calculations, balance sheets and all that. By being with children (mostly) under 5 years old most of my day, honestly changed my life and for the better. Putting things into perspective I know that Iāve learned more from my nanny kids than I taught them. But most of all I was grateful that I could make a great change, that I could be there where the coos are born and where the āwhysā come one after the other. When one of my clients repeatedly told me that I have a gift with babies I realized that this little thing that many people think itās a side hustle (mmm, no it isnāt) had become my career, my Nanny career that I was in love with.
I am very proud to say today that I do a profession that I love and a profession that is LOVE. I am grateful that this is a path that I share with many families and their babies as a Newborn Care Specialist and Postpartum Doula.
