Abuelita

So I've been doing some cleaning & going through old docs/papers I don't need (dang, shredding stuff feels so good!) & came across a poem I wrote about my grandma & my 1st trip back to Mexico a while back. Enjoy it while I try & translate this to spanish & see if still rhymes (yes, it's cheesy, I know):

GRANDMA


I miss my grandma,
I really do.
I need my grandma,
As I'm sure you do too.

I miss her love,
her stories and dedication.
I miss her tears of joy,
her caring ways and always giving gratification.

She is not far,
for she is still around.
But it was a trying experience,
for this wonderful woman to be found.

I finally had the money,
so I had to go.
Especially if it meant,
traveling to the heart of Mexico.

Ten glorious days I spent in the motherland,
place of my birth.
So the expenses I can assure you,
it was well worth.

Family galore,
I never knew I had so many.
But the most important of all,
is my sweetie of a granny.

(M. H. Morales; written 2/10/97)

Mother's Day: making grown men cry since the beginning of time

This is for all the moms out there, we wouldn't be here w/out you! See, this is why I don't like all those "commercialized" holidays- Mother's Day should be everyday, not once a year! So for all of you folks w/1 or 2 of these ladies in your life, I share w/you a brief sample of the best Mother's Day song (Damien Marley's There for You). Now I need to get back to translating this into Spanish. ;)

Also, I've uploaded some pix so take a look @ have a laugh.

So I went to see mom yesterday...

..at her newly-remodeled, fancy barber shop & boy does it look sweet! They did a nice job there w/the high ceilings & the classy look. I kind of miss the "ghettoness" of how it used to be but I'm sure there'll be even more customers (is this even possible? seems like everyone goes there) people coming in now. She's part-owner of the place now & the remodeling better be worth them hiking up the rent bigtime! So new business & new house for mom (I can't help but think of the theme song to the Jefferson's...."movin' on up...").

I stuck around to give her a ride home & take her on some errands (after the haircut, of course, boy i needed it baaaad) & something hit me like a ton of bricks about barber shops: it's amazing how many different kinds of conversations go on there! Trust me, I've thought of this before (my mom's been in the biz for 20+ yrs) but, for some odd reason, it really struck me yesterday- maybe 'cuz I was actually paying attention to some of them. It's also amazing of how many people in that area are from/near the town we're from in Zacatecas- people talk of El Mortero, la Laguna Grande & even Monte Escobedo (props to the birthplace!). It's also weird how many old elementary/h.s. friends have gone there- Wally (aka DJ Wally), Edward (aka Ed the Head) or even how many parents of old elementary friends have dropped in- Francisco's dad, Jicela's dad. It's truly uncanny. Everyone talks about Six Degrees of separation but in places like barber shops, stuff gets broken down to like 3 degrees...that's what makes 'em so cool (well, that & that it's a place where men can talk about anything they want w/out their women eavesdropping over their shoulders.

So next time you go get trimmed up, drop your barber a tip (you cheap bastards!).