09/04/2026
My grandma passed away early this morning🕊️
I wanted to share a story about her because she taught me something years ago that I didn’t understand at the time, but ended up becoming one of the most important lessons of my life.
When I first enrolled in electrical school, I remember going to my grandma excited and telling her, “Mama Pilar, I’m starting electrical school.”
She was old school. Tough woman. She looked at me with a straight face and simply said:
“Tell me when you’re finished.”
I remember walking away thinking, damn… you couldn’t just be happy for me?
But I didn’t understand her yet.
At that point in my life, I didn’t have much. I didn’t have a car. I didn’t have much money. I was working two part-time jobs, paying child support, going to school, and just trying to figure it all out.
And there were plenty of times I wanted to quit.
But I finished.
And the day I graduated, one of the first people I thought about was my grandma.
Because I finally understood what she was telling me.
Starting something is easy.
Finishing what you started is different.
She wasn’t trying to take away from my excitement. She was teaching me not to celebrate the beginning like I had already accomplished something.
Finish it.
That lesson stuck with me. Looking at my life today, I can see it in so much of what I do, including R&J Brothers Electric. Show up. Stay consistent. Keep going when things get hard. Finish what you started.
There are a lot of things my grandma taught me, but this is one I’ll carry with me forever💎
The world may never know our names. But that doesn’t mean our lives don’t leave a mark.
My grandma left a mark on me❤️
And if I can pass even a little bit of what she taught me down to my children, my family, my team, and the people around me, then a piece of her continues on.
Rest in peace, Mama Pilar🙏❤️
