See You All In Two Weeks

I should be in bed, I should be resting, but I can't. My luggage is packed and I just have to add a few things. Mi chica is taking me shopping for shoes later on today and a few other last minute things. Maybe a magazine to read while on the plane and something to munch on like peanuts since it has been said that the airline companies are not handing out snacks.

This will be a vacation we would normally wouldn't take, after all my immediate family is all here but my mom's immediate family is all there, and at 75 years old every time she goes to visit she thinks it could be her last time. Thank God she is doing well, her health is fine although she takes a ton of medicine but where she is from is a small town up in the sierras of Guerrero, Mexico and that requires a lot of walking and riding in the worst conditions. I hear that they have made made many improvements and that roads are being built but the last time I went many years ago they didn't exist. From the nearest town to their house it was a 4-hour walk, or three hours on horseback. Walking allowed for us to take the shortcuts while riding the animals had to follow the trails.

Technology as we know it, those things we take for granted such as electricity, refrigerators, even having a bathroom are luxuries. It is still a rough life there. Yet, as poor as they are they seem to survive just fine. What is better to be well off here but full of debt with no way out, or poor there but with peace of mind of not owing to no one although struggling on a day to day basis. Absolutely two different ways of life where either side could envy the other side.

I am indeed excited about this trip, not so much for me but for my mom. I want to try and see what she sees, she is there to see her people, her family, the family that she left so many years ago along with my dad so they could escape the little town and move to the huge city that is Mexico city. Eventually they left Mexico in search of the American dream. Like everything else in life word of mouth lead them to believe that they could give us, their children, a better future if they brought us all here.

Weather it was better or not I'll never know, but without forgetting my origins I have accepted and have learned to love this country as my own and like it here just fine. Thank you very much.

So here I am, I will be going back after 35 years and the excitement is alive. The only drawback in all this is that "mi chica" will not be coming with us. She really wanted to but circumstances didn't permit it and so she will stay behind holding the fort here in Phoenix.

I hope to share as much as I can with you my family and friends that have come to visit and even like this your blog. And I intend to take many, many pictures. You all know how "trigger happy" I can be when it comes to firing the shutter. I am sure that I will find many wonderful places and things to photograph, not to mention people.

So, this is my last post until I come back. Pray that we have a good, safe, and fun trip and I'll see you all in two weeks.

Have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend.