Read the latest installment of The Wisdom Keepers,

She’s elegance personified. This lovely woman radiates heartfelt wisdom and a timeless love for others. Lupe Barajas was born in Colorado, the youngest of 15 children. Life often brought tragedy and only six of the 15 children survived. When Barajas was 5 years old, her mom died. Lupe’s dad moved the remaining family to California, where his sisters helped raise the children.

While living with her aunt, Barajas excelled in school and developed a strong work ethic. Because her parents had come from Mexico, she was fluent in both Spanish and English. She loved to read and won lots of spelling bees. Her dad was a professional card player and she inherited his skills with math and critical thinking. As she grew older, Barajas volunteered at her elementary school where she tutored fourth graders in spelling.

Barajas said, “I had a simple life with lots of joy. My two brothers and three sisters are all deceased now but we had a wonderful time when we were together.” Her joy is still with her today and obvious to anyone who spends time with her.

At the age of 18, Barajas and her older sister moved out on their own. Barajas worked hard as a secretary and in a factory. When she was 28, one of her work associates introduced her to Julian Barajas. It was love at first sight and they were married two months later.

Barajas said, “When I was single I always lived with others. I never had a home just for me. Julian didn’t want me to work after our marriage so I became a homemaker. I liked decorating the house and making a home. And I was a good cook. I always made Julian’s favorite beans with chili and apple pie.”

Julian worked at the Wham-O toy factory, and because Lupe liked to paint and color, she used her skills to work at home assembling and painting toys.

Julian and Lupe made their home in Anaheim, Calif. The Barajases had lots of friends in the community. They liked to travel and loved road trips. Lupe remembers visiting San Francisco, Sacramento and especially the Southwest. To this day, her grandkids call her “the cruising queen.”

“Every Sunday afternoon,” she said, “we would get in the car, buy soda and chips and go wherever the wind blew.”

In their second year of marriage, Lupe and Julian had a baby girl, Rebecca. When “Becky” was 14, they adopted Anthony. Anthony’s parents lived in Mexico, and they already had 12 children when Anthony was born. They felt they simply couldn’t afford to keep him. They had met Lupe and Julian through friends and were thankful for the help from the Barajas family and their willingness to adopt their son Anthony. Lupe graciously welcomed Anthony into their home. As Anthony grew, Lupe and Julian became very active in Little League baseball. They served on the board of directors for 10 years. Anthony was a great “little leaguer” and Becky excelled in school. Lupe knew she had done her job well. Then when Becky was a senior in high school, Lupe decided to enroll in CNA training. She worked as a caregiver until both she and Julian retired at the age of 59.

Becky got married on her parents’ 37th wedding anniversary. After the ceremony, Lupe and Julian renewed their own vows. It was truly a memorable day and brought a close family even closer. Lupe and Julian retired shortly after this, and moved in with Becky and her husband, who lived in Tehachapi. They now have nine grandchildren, seven from Anthony and two from Becky.

Looking back on her life, Lupe’s advice is to treat others with respect but above all to respect yourself.

“And before you leave the house in the morning, make sure your bed is made and the dishes are done,” she continued. “If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day and it will remind you that the little things in life matter.”