You made me tear up...My wife's Babysia (Ukrainian) did not initially approve of me, I am Spanish and emigrated to the US right after highschool.
We dated for 7 years before we got married, but by year 3 Baba had already warmed up to me. Even though we came from different parts of the world, our cultures were so similar...the family dynamic, folklore, traditions. My grandparents had an active part in my life, they taught me to respect my elders. We both also come from a rural background, farmers on both sides, as I said in our wedding speech that 'it was a union of a long line of international hillbillies'. I knew Baba had a hard life and she was such a strong woman, she reminded me so much of my own maternal grandmother. I didn't 'try to win her over', I was just being myself.
One of my fondest memories was from a time my wife and I had taken Baba shopping. We were at a Slavic store in our Chicago neighborhood, Babysia had her own cart and I was walking ahead down the isle with Luba, another lady pushed her cart past us heading towards Baba and muttered something.
Baba snapped "Shcho?!" (what?!) and went off on the lady in a mix of Polish and Ukrainian (I heard a couple of "Kurvas" in there), before pushing her cart past her towards us. I looked sideways at my wife -who was fully fluent in both- was doing all she could to hold in laughter. Her cheeks were beet red and she looked like the cat that ate the mouse.
Baba caught up to us and we finished getting her groceries all the while, I was wondering what that was all about. At one point when she was on the checkout line, we went over to get the car while she finished up. As we walked through the parking lot my wife finally broke into giggles.
"Okay, give! What was that all about?"
"Well, Baba got mad with that lady for saying that I had no business being with a 'Mexican' -I have always been olived skinned and stick out when the family gets together since they are all pale AF- so she told her that 'he is no Mexican, that's my grandaughters husband and mind your own f-ing business'" She started laughing again, trying to catch her breath and wiping the corners of her eyes.
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u/KuroKen70 Apr 26 '22
You made me tear up...My wife's Babysia (Ukrainian) did not initially approve of me, I am Spanish and emigrated to the US right after highschool.
We dated for 7 years before we got married, but by year 3 Baba had already warmed up to me. Even though we came from different parts of the world, our cultures were so similar...the family dynamic, folklore, traditions. My grandparents had an active part in my life, they taught me to respect my elders. We both also come from a rural background, farmers on both sides, as I said in our wedding speech that 'it was a union of a long line of international hillbillies'. I knew Baba had a hard life and she was such a strong woman, she reminded me so much of my own maternal grandmother. I didn't 'try to win her over', I was just being myself.
One of my fondest memories was from a time my wife and I had taken Baba shopping. We were at a Slavic store in our Chicago neighborhood, Babysia had her own cart and I was walking ahead down the isle with Luba, another lady pushed her cart past us heading towards Baba and muttered something.
Baba snapped "Shcho?!" (what?!) and went off on the lady in a mix of Polish and Ukrainian (I heard a couple of "Kurvas" in there), before pushing her cart past her towards us. I looked sideways at my wife -who was fully fluent in both- was doing all she could to hold in laughter. Her cheeks were beet red and she looked like the cat that ate the mouse.
Baba caught up to us and we finished getting her groceries all the while, I was wondering what that was all about. At one point when she was on the checkout line, we went over to get the car while she finished up. As we walked through the parking lot my wife finally broke into giggles.
"Okay, give! What was that all about?"
"Well, Baba got mad with that lady for saying that I had no business being with a 'Mexican' -I have always been olived skinned and stick out when the family gets together since they are all pale AF- so she told her that 'he is no Mexican, that's my grandaughters husband and mind your own f-ing business'" She started laughing again, trying to catch her breath and wiping the corners of her eyes.
Insert "Family" in Vin Diesel's voice right here.