To Be Continued...
I never get tired of hearing her stories, no matter how many times I might have heard them, but this one was a new one for me! Most families get to the point where they begin to tell the same stories over and over. Being in a household of 3, my parents and I have shared the same stories again and again and our reactions are usually the same; laughter, tears, reflection. We don’t exactly tire of it, each of us reliving the experience for what it means to us each time. Every once in a while something magical happens; a NEW story!! One we’ve either never heard or never shared. In those moments you lean in, usually ramble off something like “I haven’t heard this one!” and listen intently and excitedly. Well it may have been a recording but as I heard my grandmother’s voice through my headphones, I found myself leaning in, exclaiming the newness and shock out loud to myself and experiencing it as a first-time listener. I hope you have the same experience and find yourself wanting to learn a little more as she leaves us on a bit of a cliffhanger with this one.
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Around the time of the Revolution there was something that happened within our home. I could see that there was some stress between my mom and dad. My mom’s eyes were red and my dad was visibly upset. They were usually so lovey dovey, cuddly and joking a lot. So we had a family meeting, everyone except my two little sisters. My father sat us down and told us that when he was younger, around 16 or 17, there was a maid that worked for his family and he had a relationship with her. He didn’t think anything of it because the maid worked with them for just a little while, disappeared and he never saw her again. But then 21 years later this young man appeared at his office and claimed to be his son. My father had no idea but it turns out that my grandparents knew about it which is why she disappeared. They had raised this child and paid her to leave and paid for this child’s education. It was just such a hard time for both of my parents because my dad had no idea he had a son that was kept from him and my mom was processing this as well. It was not like he had been unfaithful; it was before they knew each other and he was so young when it happened, but it was still hard for them both. My mom told him to invite the young man to come meet everyone. He lived back in Oruro so over another spring vacation, my brother Fernando and I decided we were going to go back to Oruro and meet him. This was the time I ended up re-meeting Henry again as well. This is when my life got a little more exciting, there was so much happening around that time, but that is a story for another day.
