Throwback Thursday

Years ago, when I went away to college, some 600 miles from home, I was one of the first ones to do so among a certain group of friends and family. Not only was it so far away, but it was also in a part of Texas largely foreign to any of us. To say it was a new experience is an understatement.

Although I went to my parents' house for Thanksgiving break that first year, there wasn't really time to see anyone else. That was not the case over Christmas break, which was almost a month long. So, one day my mother and I went to visit my padrinos (godparents). My madrina (godmother) has been my mother's best friend since their freshmen year in high school, and my mother met my padrino (godfather) during high school because of who he dated and married.

These two people have always been a part of my life in various ways. It was them who stood up and agreed to take me in should something ever happen to my parents, their daughters who are my oldest friends, and their extended family that always warmly welcome me to family birthdays, quinceañeras, and anything in between.

After visiting awhile, my madrina offered me something to eat; never one to turn down homemade Mexican food, I said yes. I don't recall what it was, but it did come with tortillas. After a few bites, I put down my fork, ripped off a piece of tortilla, and proceeded to scoop up my food with it. (This is how some Mexican foods are eaten best.)

My padrino teased me, "Oh thank goodness! I thought you forgot how to eat!"

I laughed; we all laughed. But underneath the laughter was a certain seriousness, how much of my culture and habits would I lose by being so far from home?

I guess that's truly the question for anyone. How much of our past, our culture, do we let fall away because we think it will always be there or there will be time to master the recipes or habits of our parents and grandparents? Admittedly, I think I've let too much slip away, and it's only been in the last few years that I've tried to make efforts to reclaim what I let go or what I didn't treasure enough to keep up with. And that's what this blog is . . . pieces of me, of my family, of recipes and times forgotten that I will try to recollect, share, and make record of, for me, for my kids, and for you.
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About yesterday's Wordless Wednesday picture, that is my favorite galleta (cookie), which for many years I could only get when I visited my patents' house or by traveling to Fort Worth.
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Another lost piece of me, I think of today especially, and every time I hear this Kenny Chesney song:

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Let me know if you have any thoughts on losing, or finding, pieces of you.

¡Hasta la proxima vez!