See Dick run, see Jane jump, see Alexandra take that next step in life.

"Dick said, 'Go Jane. Jump! Jump! Jump, Jane!'"

"Oh Jane, look and see, see Sally go, see Sally pull the---how do you say that?"

"Wagon Grandma. See Sally pull the wagon."

There are numerous lines from Dick and Jane books plastered into my mind.

From the time I was born my grandma Maria, my mom's mom, was right there by my side. She made it her duty to assist my parents in raising me.

My mom owned a bridal shop downtown named, "IVAH'S" which my grandma helped her run. When I was too young to be in school and my parents went to work, I would spend every moment of everyday in that bridal store with my grandma. A copious amount of memories I still carry from my childhood take place in that shop with her. It was there that I would play dress up, where I figured out that I didn't need to go to the hair dresser because, "I could cut my own hair," and it was even there that she taught me how to ride a bike.

Still to this day I can close my eyes and picture her pushing me around the store in a stroller when I would get sleepy, and singing lullabies to me in Spanish until my eyes finally shut.

My entire life I looked up to my grandma. I went to her when I needed help, or advice. She was the one who had all the answers. She was my biggest role model. There did, however come a time when my grandma asked one favor of me.

My grandma Maria was born into a poor family from Mexico. At a young age she started working to support her family. She once told me a story of how she was given the chance to assist a local doctor in her town. She mentioned how she helped him deliver babies, give shots, tend to the ill, and she also informed me on how she had a great passion for it.

"I knew that being a nurse and helping people was what I wanted to do with my life."  She expressed.

 She was soon sent to the states to work and take care of her family. She was never given the opportunity to fulfill her dreams or even receive an education.

The favor my grandma asked of me was to teach her how to read a book.

She had a large stack of Dick and Jane books, and I would sit down next to her as she pulled one out and flipped it to the first page. She would read it line by line stopping here and there to ask me how to pronounce a word, then grabbing her pen and marking it down so she wouldn't forget. She would continuously remind me of how smart I was, how proud of me she was, and how she knew that one day I was going to be something great like a doctor, or a lawyer.

My grandma passed away five years ago and with graduation coming up it makes me think of her and miss her even more. I wish she could be with me here today, so she could sit there at my graduation and see me walk across that stage to receive my diploma.

She made me promise her that I would constantly push myself, work my hardest, and follow my dreams. That's a promise that I will never break.

This fall I will be following my dreams and be attending the University of Arizona where I will be majoring in Veterinary Science and Equine Science. I would have never gotten to where I am today if it were not for that tremendous and strong woman. Although she may not physically by here with me today, I know that she is still always going to be by my side no matter where life takes me.