Today, my dad and I visited The West Side. This is where he and my mom grew up, and where most of my relatives still live. On the map below, this is just about where the S in San Antonio is:

Nearly everyone lives withing a few miles of each other here. We visited my Tio Jimmy, who now lives in my abuelito’s house; we visited my Tio Winnie(pronounced “ween-eh”) and Tia Rosa. They were great dancers, and she was the tia I could spin and spin really fast when we danced. I also wanted to visit the graves of my abuelito Hernandez and granpda Ramirez in San Fernando cemetery. It’s a huge cemetery that I’ve been to many times for funerals, starting with my dad’s mom in 1972. When my abuelito died in 2012, he joined her:

Not far from him is where my grandpa is buried. There’s a spot ready for grandma right next to him. She keeps saying she’s ready, but we remind her that it’s not up to her. See, for about 10 years or so before grandpa passed, they both kept telling us they “might not be around next year.” And they kept being around. Eventually, they stopped telling us that. So I remind her: when the Lord is ready, He’ll come calling. In the meantime, she’s due to turn 98 in July.

While we were there, my dad showed me where his grandparents are buried. This grave is right down the row from abuelito. Yes, the dates are correct, meaning my father’s grandparents differed in age by 35 years. She had 14 kids(!), one of whom was abuelito. Such were those days:

After the tios y tias and the cemetery, we HAD to stop by the panaderia. The one we like is Mario’s, on Castroville Rd. The selection is huge, and it’s very good quality. I always get empanadas(w/ pumpkin filling); I got some maranitos for Cyndi(although they might not last until Saturday, apologies in advance honey; we can always go back for more). Grandma likes orejas:

Just finished a home made meal from mom, so when it settles, I’m diving into the empanadas!