Both of my parents had been previously married when they met, so when I was born they already had three kids to care for. Not too long after, three of my cousins came to live with us. Oscar, Marina and Percy were very young when my aunt Maria passed away. They were left in the care of their grandmother from their father’s side of the family. Their father at the time, a struggling young man, could not cope with the children and left them with his mom and was absent for a long time.
Times got hard and not having enough money to keep the kids fed, as well as feeling her strength leave because of her age, the precious old lady had no choice but to part ways with the kids. Mama Tula, my grandmother, was the first one to find out that the kids were being offered to different neighbors and to anybody who wanted to care for them. When my father and mother heard about the situation they adopted them without hesitation.
Oscar, Percy and Marina came to live with us, and in time, so did sweet Mama Tula. She was a very interesting grandma. She always had a story to tell us, and almost always the stories had something to do with the Bible. Often it would be about something tragic that happened to someone for not listening to God or their parents. The story about the lady that turned into a pillar of salt (Lot’s wife) always scared me to death! Still, I always requested it. Reading the same story today, I can’t help but to think of her wrinkled little face looking into space as if she could see something we could not. With a very natural air, she would tell the story, always adding her own little spice to it. Anything to get us to behave!
As long as I can remember, Mama Tula was already old, and she was so sweet. She took care of us when my mom went out to work, and my brothers and I became very attached to her, enjoying her kindness and care. She lived with us always till the day she went to heaven. Living in the united States, twenty nine years later, I heard the news of her passing in Guatemala from my mom. It was a sad day. I will treasure my sweet memories of her forever.
Our family continued to grow. I was followed by Jorge, Hugo, Sheny, and Juan Fernando. My older brothers were Rafael, Edgar and Armando, together with my cousins Oscar, Marina, and Percy we grew up loving each other and making the best of our lives together.
It was hard for my father to provide for a family that was so big. We saw some hard times, and consequently, we older kids found ways to help out at a very early age doing any type of job we could find. Rafael worked as a helper at a body shop, Oscar worked as a helper at the Italian bakery with Don Juan, and Edgar (who we called “Chino”) would occasionally sell “verengena” (egg plant) in the marketplace. He would shout his sales pitch at the top of his voice. He later joked at how embarrassing it was.