In order for you to get to know me first you have to know what and who has shaped me to be the person that I am as of now and the lens I view the world with. For this to happen I’m going to share you my parents story.
Both my parents come from what once was a very small town but since then has now become a growing a developing city and is a religious stop for thousands of pilgrims; San Juan de los Lagos, Jalisco.
My dad was a rumbustious kid growing up. Both his parents died when he was just a kid leaving him to be raised by his older siblings. His father was much older than his mother and was unable to play/ be with him because of his advanced age. His mother was a mysterious woman who he doesn’t really know much about other than her being a Native woman. Independent and a rebel to authority he grew up in the outskirts of town.
My mom the polar opposite of my dad was able to grow up with her mother. A strong woman who would wash cloths in the river to help support her family. Her dad died when she was young; he worked as a cowboy coming all the way up to California in his youth and then as a baker. A shy and timid girl always by her mothers side.
Both my parents grew up in poverty in the outskirts of town not being able to finish elementary, only reaching the fourth grade because they could no longer pay for their education. No closed shoes, potato sack clothing, a diet of beans/rice/ and tortillas, no plumbing, and dirt floors these are only some of things in their lives. My mother was severely bullied by other girls just because she was the prettiest one in their town. My parents have known one another since they were children; my dad moved to my mom’s barrio when he was 5 or 6. The funny thing is the only reason my siblings and I are here today is because my uncle (mom’s side) played a trick on my parents telling them that the other liked each other lol.
They’ve been together for 42 years; more than half of there lives. Their relationship hasn’t been an easy one. They were children having children, on and off again, my mom leaving Mexico to be with family in the US and my dad following her a week later, crossing deserts and borders with a baby, severe jealousy, drunkenness, drugs, mental and physical abuse (on both ends), losing a child, and so much more. Honestly the only reason they are still together to this day is because of God. They grew up Catholic but it wasn’t until my brother (before me) was born that my mom became an Charismatic Christian. My Grandma moved out of the house and back to Mexico when this happened. About a year later my parents were on the verge of separate (they got married when I was in 1st grade) because their relationship just wasn’t working but then a surprise came and that was me.
An unplanned mistake, one that my Grandmother and Dad believed should be scrubbed out but my mom woudent have it. Like the good christian woman my mother is she grabbed some oil locked herself in the bathroom and prayed. She placed oil on her hands and then laid them on her womb and prayed to God. I was at that moment the glue that kept them and all six (with me) children together.
My dad is a hard worker always giving 110%, an intellectual, poet, reader, cook, music lover, comedian, leader, opinionated, entrepreneur, etc.
My mom is sweet, caring, a servant heart at heart, artistic, hard worker always giving 110%, intercessor, spiritual, worshiper, dreamer, etc
Both born in February, love the color purple (color of royalty), and names mean nobility/ royalty.
This is only a fragment of my parents story and of who they are but they have given me the foundation of who I am. I wish I could write down so much more but it would literally be a book and then become a hit novela.
