1. Show the people you love that you care.
Grandma used to say: "en vida" (while we are alive)...and she always said she'd rather have 1 daisy given to her while she was alive than 10,000 roses at her funeral!

2. You can't please everybody.
"Uno no es monedita de oro para caerle bien a todo el mundo" (we are not little gold coins, not everyone will like you)And there's no reason trying to change who you are just to have someone else like you!...

3. You cannot give what you don't have. If you don't love yourself, no one else can love you either!

4. A person who knows how to cook will never starve! ...a good cook doesn't need a lot to make a good meal...plus, it is a very marketable skill!

5. A woman with a needle will always find a way to feed herself - and her family. Sewing, knitting, crocheting, cross-stitch, embroidery...those also are marketable skills!

6. Anything material can be taken away from you, but knowledge and skills will always be yours once you acquire them! (Dad loved to quote this one whenever we had bad grades! - he also made sure to tell us it wasn't about the grades as long as you understood the contents, as some people just don't test well.

7. There's always people who are worse off than we are - try to help if you can.
(I'll always remember Mom buying a Big Mac for a small girl once, and how sis and I said: Mom, she's too little to eat all that!...and Mom replied: by herself, maybe, but, I'm sure that burger is going to be cut at least in 4 pieces)

8. Lose your temper, lose the fight....grandma used to say: If you're raising your voice, it's probably because the other person has better arguments...

9. You do NOT separate families. If there were troubles or danger, we always faced it together. - Dad was sent away from his mom when he was 7, and he and his three brothers each lived with a different Aunt...he was fiercely protective of the family unit!

10. Home-made is best! - Mom loved to cook and knit, and crochet.... she used to bake our cakes for birthdays (eventhough she spent like crazy on the gifts!) and for truly special occasions (like baptisms, First Communions and weddings) she insisted on knitting or crocheting the gifts for the guests herself!