There is a funny story behind my grandmother’s name. Her real name is Izolina, but everyone calls her “Santa” or “Santinha,” which in English mean “saint” and “little saint,” respectively. Her mother and her grandmothers couldn’t agree in choosing the name. As a way to avoid disappointming two of the women, my great-grandfather told the notary clerk that she could put whatever name she liked for his daughter, except for the three chosen by the women of the family. So my grandmother was named Izolina, which is a very unusual name. The three women were deeply disappointed and decided that they would never call my grandmother Izolina, but instead Santinha, because she deserved a beautiful name, not an ugly name.

I cannot imagine how it has been for her to be called Saint for her whole life, but my grandmother didn’t allow the name to define her personality. On many occasions, she was not seen as a saint and was even criticized for being a strong woman.

Granny Santa got married young and had her first baby, my mother, just after she turned 20 years old. Before getting married, she worked and got the education that a woman of her social class could receive in Brazil in the 1940s and ’50s. She finished sixth grade and then got dressmaker and typist certificates. She even began to work, for a Spanish woman, who taught her a little Spanish. She has a wonderful voice, and at that time, she wanted to pursue a career as a singer. In her free time, she went with her younger sister to radio shows.

However, after the marriage, she had to drop everything—her work and her dreams—to be a housewife and mother. She married for love, and the oppression that came with married life was not expected. She had three kids, and after 18 years of marriage, she couldn’t accept that way of life anymore. She left my grandfather with the kids and moved back in with her parents.

She was still young, 38 years old, and quickly found a job as a secretary. Later on, she started a career in the municipal education department as a government employee, where she worked until she retired.

Even though she has been separated from my grandfather for over 40 years, she was never far from her children and family. When I was a child, I knew my granny as a woman who worked but was very present. She scheduled time to visit me at least once a week. I learned from her all the games that I know, for example, dominoes, checkers, and cards. I never saw her as an ordinary grandmother: My granny was a young grandmother who wore modern clothes, had a boyfriend, and to this day, still loves beer.

Currently, she is 81 years old, and lives alone in her house with her LPs and DVDs, because she likes to be up-to-date, and while she is an independent woman, she always remains close to her family.

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Marianna Monte was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She moved from Portugal to New York in March 2019. In Portugal she finished her Ph.D. in Urban Studies. She believes that New York City offers great experiences for a researcher in her field. She speaks Portuguese, Spanish, and German. At the Seward Park branch of the New York Public Library, her teacher is Terry Sheehan.