Monday, July 15, 2013

THE GRANDPA (el abuelo)

We meet a lot of people in life. Starting with the first faces that we see when we are born, for instance, our parents. I know what you are thinking. But no, it's not the one who caught us on the way out, our uncles, and our grandparents.   And for some of us that didn't have the luxury of enjoying being spoiled by a grandpa, still in life we come across people that in a way or somehow will become as one of the above mentioned without even being part of our own family. They don't have any kind of relation with any other relatives and sometimes we wonder, "why is she/he not my real grandpa or grandma?"
For instance, at the time when I got married with the most beautiful woman of the neighborhood; yeah, believe it or not. And no, I'm not just saying that because I was in love or infatuated with her. But because she was in fact, and still is, a beautiful woman. A lot of guys were after her, she just didn't know it. Because of her, I met a lot of people and among all those people there was la Señora Francisca, or "Doña Francis" like my ex used to called her.   La Señora Francisca was an old friend of my, back then, wife. She was an older woman that my wife met when she was still single. Later on she introduced me to her. Francisca's father was an old man from the Mexican Revolution time. A very rich old man. Rich to the point that he didn't even know how much he had, but his kids knew. He owned a lot of land and Francisca's house was built on one of those extensions of land. Next to it was this little shack constructed from palm trees leaves, mud, and wood. I know, it sounds ugly. It was about 35 by 45 feet, with just dirt as a floor. He had a lot of fields of "caña de azucar" (sugar canes) growing; which at that time, he used to still take care of while riding on his horse like in the good old days. He was always very nice to us and we used to visit them once in a while. And in time, we started developing a very good friendship.
In time, like I said before, when we got married. We asked the "abuelo" (the grandpa) if we could live in the little shack for a while and he agreed. I tried to pay him rent, but he said that we could live there anytime and for as long as we wanted. And just like that, in a way, I got the grandpa that I didn't have when I was a kid. He used to go and visit us almost everyday, always bringing us something from the market. We also used to play cards. Let me clarify here, he was old. So old that he could hardly walk, move, and even talk.    Conversations with him were always slow, nice, paused. He used to tell us about the horrors of being a kid during the Mexican revolution, when he and other kids had to hide in caves. Stories of all the blood from men dying as a result of the "revuelta" (Mexican Revolution). He told us how amazed he was when he saw a car, an airplane, a television for the first time and how he learned to read "en la panza de la vaca" (in the cow's stomach) because there was no school back then. If there was a school, he couldn't go for one reason or another. He never dreamt about a cellphone. He was always checking on us, always trying to be with us for breakfast, lunch or dinner. He was very caring and loving to us, like the grandpa that we
didn't have. This is how we got our grandpa. Maybe it was late for us. But still, we got to enjoy it while it lasted. As time went by, we moved to another town and life continued its course. We always remembered him. Maybe some of you got some relative in a similar way. Well, maybe not exactly, but you know what I'm talking about. So, you all just keep reading, be patient, there's more coming, don't forget to eat your vegetables. Stay safe and healthy and if you can't read me soon. . . you'll read me later. Over n' out.



the pictures: "El abuelo", mi padre con mi hija Fabiola, y uno de mis mejores amigos, Memo con mi supernieta Sophia.

Friday, July 12, 2013

SETTING THE PATH FOR THE FUTURE

           During our childhood we go through a lot of experiences on the streets, at home, and at school. But nothing prepares us for the future but ourselves. No matter what your parents want you to be, it's not always like that.
          When I was a kid, my Dad (my Superman) was very strict with us- me, my brother, and my two sisters. He wanted everything to be done on time, nothing could be dirty no matter what. And by "nothing" he meant the house, our clothes, our personal hygiene, and belongings. He was always on top of everything, but
especially about school. He wanted the best for us and he knew that the only way was trough education. 
          He was a man that was always well dressed. People treated my Dad with a lot of respect. Since he was a businessman, he was well known and he always knew how to treat them in return, I have no idea what my brother and sisters told my Dad they wanted to be when they grew up, but I always told him that I wanted to be a public accountant, despite the fact that he wanted me to be a lawyer. Why? I don't know. I wonder now what would have happened back then if I could have watched "Law & Order" on TV. I kind of knew that being a lawyer was a big responsibility. I knew that it would take a lot of team work, investigating, running after people to make them talk, and a lot of other things. It wasn't just about getting up before an audience and getting to the bottom of the case, finding the guilty: guilty and the innocent: innocent. I knew it was not always like that, so I decided not to be a lawyer. I stuck to the idea of becoming a public accountant. 

           I have always been good with numbers. Making or solving number problems was so easy for me, and still is. To kind of prove that, I remember one day when my brother, two sisters and I went to church and we stayed for doctrine. We took longer than usual and by the time we got home, my Dad was already there!! He was mad, because we were not home, so "let the spanking begin!!" He got us one by one. My brother first, then my two sisters and when it was my turn, he asked me, "and you?!! have you mastered your time tables??!!" Being that I was born with the ability to calculate, I sang them to him, needless to say, I got absolution, I was pardoned just like the turkey on Thanksgiving at the white house.           And no, that's not the reason why I loved numbers, that's just to show you that when you are good at something, it can get you out of a lot of trouble. Life took me by the hand and later on I got to use my skills with numbers during my work in the field of sales. Then I got to play the accountant part when I had to keep track of



my commissions, my bonuses, my premiums, and my own money. Also, I use it now to count how many stories I'll have the opportunity to write until the end. Lets hope that we're not close to that point. For now, don't stop eating your vegetables, stay safe, do your chores, read my stories, and I'll let you read me later alligator, over n' out.