the christmas before my grandpa - Papa - died, we had a get together like we do every year at my aunt mague's restaurant. located in arvin, the town where my mom's family settled after migrating from texas, the restaurant itself is made up of one large front room where there are several small tables adorned with pink tablecloths and red chairs. the walls host sombreros, brightly colored sarapes, the local high school football calendar, as well as small brown clay jarritos as their decor.
that christmas, like many before and many since, my mom's six sisters, her brother, and their families would bring food ranging from beans to rice, turkey, tamales, pies, persimmon cookies, and other holiday specialties, depositing them on the huge stove burners in the kitches as well as on various countertops and tables. the aunts and uncles enter the restaurant like santa claus, with bags of gifts wrapped in red and green for the younger children.
that year, a good number of us had already assembled and were partaking of the christmas treats when Papa arrived. we always received our grandpa, the 86-year old patriarch with the most gentle soul of the family, as our guest of honor at these holiday gatherings. we all made sure to go and saludarle, hug him, give him a kiss on his aging cheek. his light eyes always seemed to gleam more brightly seeing us.
we were taking group pictures that christmas. this one with all the sisters whose ages range within twenty years of each other. another with each individual family, some families with as few as three members, others with as many as seven. one with everyone - all of the sisters, my uncle frank, their children, the children of their children. there were probably about fifty of us crowded together, trying to fit into the lenses of multiple cameras. Papa looked at all of us as if he were seeing us for the first time, kind of laughed and said, hice todo un pueblo! i made an entire town.
he passed away the following summer.
the family still gets together at my aunt's restaurant in arvin every thanksgiving and christmas, some easters. there are other gatherings, as well, for weddings, birthdays, baptisms, baby showers... this past sunday my mom invited everyone over our house for barbecue and swimming - the perfect remedy for the brutal bakersfield summer days. i'm always amazed to see the children of my older cousins grow taller every year and my younger cousins having kids of their own. i think that Papa would also be amazed at the way our family continues to grow. but i suppose it's a very normal part of life.
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