sickEP is of 100% Mexican descent. Both of her parents were born there. One sure-fire way to try her patience is to ask her, “Hey, how do you say that in Mexican?” She will then respond in a low, patience-tried voice, “There is no such language; it’s called Spanish.” Ah, but when the same person asks her that question for the fifth time (like, for example, me), her patience begins to wear thin. God, what a brat I can be!
She told me once about some free summer activity programs offered by the city of Detroit that she was going to get her daughters involved in. I asked her, “Are they offering any swimming classes?”
“I think so,” she responded, “Why?”
“Well, I just thought they might want to learn more about how their ancestors got to this country.”
She responded to this, as she did on so many other occasions, with the single quote I most associate with her, delivered in a quiet, measured voice nearly devoid of outward emotion: “Honey, you are SO lucky that I love you, because otherwise I’d have to kill you.”
I’m not going to relate any of the REALLY snarky things I’ve said to her, for two reasons: 1) I recognize that every day in this country, people kill people they love and I have no desire to become a statistic; and 2) I really, truly, honestly consider myself to be somewhat less of a brat than I used to be, and while I may enjoy visiting the past, I don’t want to live there!
In closing, let me just say that the virtual bouquet seen below is for EP, with love (and luck) from me!
