Sundays

Hello www, May God bless you and keep you. In Jesus' name. Amen. When I was in the seventh grade, my brother, mom and I lived with my grandmother, my two aunts, and an uncle, in El Paso, Tx. My grandmother's house is a wonderful Victorian-style home; my mom and her four sisters pooled their money to buy it for my grandmother in 1952. The house was actually built in the 1930's. It's in a neighborhood where the homes don't resemble each other. The University of El Paso is just down the street. Nowadays the district is considered an historic part of El Paso. With plenty of rooms to roam, beautifully managed hard-wood floors, and a plethora of relatives to bother, it was an ideal place for a twelve-year-old. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but it was the perfect place for several different generations of family to live too. From my newly conceived cousin, to my eighty something grandmother, the continum of life spread before me. At 9:30 am I get up and go downstairs where Aunt Rosa has breakfast ready: fluffy white tortillas filled with chorizo and huevo. Not only did Aunt Rosa have breakfast ready, she had lunch started; roast beef with potatoes. The yummy aroma tip toes into each room of the house. After breakfast, and the wonderful company of my aunt Rosa, it is time to get ready for mass. My Aunt Helina and her son, my cousin, Frankie, come over to take us all to 11 o'clock mass at St. Patrick's. On the short drive over we listen to Kasey Kasem's "count down to today's hottest hits," on the radio. As we enter St. Patricks, I am reminded of the fact that the church was built in 1914in the Italian Renaissance style. It is magnificent. After mass the roast beef is ready to eat! But before anyone can eat, we say hello with hugs and kisses. Lively chatter, a mixture of Spanish and English, is heard from any room in the house. The rest of the day was open to anything: watching television, playing games, visiting, and if my aunt Rosa found a movie she liked in the paper, we would go to a matinee show. Other cousins would arrive; more hellos, hugs and kisses. Sometimes we just sat on the inviting front porch, swinging on the chairs, watching the afternoon pass. These are the Sundays I remember and the ones that I hope to create someday with my children. Enjoy each and every day of your life - it is all so precious! God bless us!