silly pic

My little Viking!

I have no idea what this hat is.  A prickly sailor?

Looking into the future, Franklin the Graduate!

we have all sorts of hats.

Saturday

Today we paid a visit to an elderly lady who is under a lot of distress. She lives in an assisted living facility where she is being looked out for but very much against her wishes. I thought about how fast time is passing by now that I am in my mid 30's. My 6 year old said to me "Mom, you know, I will be having children soon" I almost fell down at the sound of this statement, I told her "You will do no such thing until you are at least 26!" I told her 20 years is not "soon". She said that 20 years could happen very soon. She is probably right. When I was a teenager and hear people say "When I was in high school 15 yrs ago...." I thought they were ancient! Anyway. Life goes and stops for now one so I better enjoy it.

Los Abuelos

Senor Julio Paramo and his lovely wife Soledad Gutierrez de Nayarit, Mexico.

When I was a kid and living in Mexico, my mom would gather us children and tell us: " We're going to visit your grandparents". She would pack a plastic bag with a loaf of sliced bread, some ham, mayo, onions, tomatoes and pickled jalapenos. That was quite the treat for us, this would be our meal for the 5 or so hour trip. We then would head out to Zapopan in the bus, to board a bigger bus, like the Greyhound buses, except older and not as comfortable. I cant remember the trips to Mecatan very much, the only thing I recall is that when we were approaching the small town, we would drive through some thick thick vegetation, a canyon filled with an ocean of green. Where colorful parrots flew freely. It was quite pretty. That's the only thing that was pretty. My Grandparents lived in a pretty big property, loads of land with lots of trees.  One time, I saw my Grandpa with an old handcart filled with some pretty plants. Lots of bright red-berry looking plants. It turned out it was coffee beans. They were so beautiful. He grew bananas, papayas and mangos among many other produce. My memory of him was that he was super serious. He also smoked a lot of cigarretes. He was thin and quiet. I dont believe he ever talked to me. As for Grandmother, she seemed so pretty to me all the time, but like her husband, not much of a talker to us Irene's kids. She had cool green eyes and was fair-skin which seemed to make people feel more important in Mexico during those times.
They are both deceased, and have left behing a very big family. I am willing to bet that my mom's family is the biggest! It would be cool to meet the cousins and aunts I have never met.