Every year on November 11th, I am reminded of how blessed I am to have both my parents in my life, to have both parents who are incredibly sharp of mind, a little slower physically, and, oh so important to our familia. As kids, we Torres used to think that we got November 11th off from school, not because of Veterans Day, but because of Mike & Margaret Torres’ Anniversary!
My familia is by no means perfect but the one thing that we have been given by this union with our parents is STABILITY and PEACE. Who knew that these two things would be soooo important to me? I feel sad for those who have never known this kind of stability: of having to be home at night, having a set bedtime, having to do homework, housework, having to be there for each other, having to take each other into account and to know that your actions WILL affect the family either in a good or a bad way. I may have fought being a part of this concise unit for a time but NOW…there is no greater comfort to me than to know that I can go home to BOTH Mama and Daddy and that my fam continues to be united. Mom and Dad taught us all how to live in PEACE, not to look for trouble, to treat folks right, and to do the right thing WITHOUT turning our backs on each other EVER. While the 5 of us can ‘go there’ and argue with the best of them, the one thing we can never say, nor even imagine, is that we are not speaking to each other. Our entire lives, my parents always taught us that we have to stick together, that we have to be there for our brothers/sisters. In the words of Mike Torres, “Kiss your brother for good brother/Kiss your sister for good sister” LOL.
As I spent this past weekend with my parents literally lying around watching TV and sleeping … Daddy tells me, ‘mija, parece que tu cabello paso por un huracan’, and Mama says, “sorry to laugh, but I hardly ever see your hair so messy!” It’s like we were taking care of each other this weekend and enjoying a peaceful, stable, weekend. I was there when the clock struck midnight on 11-11-13! Love love love love Mike and Margaret Torres and grateful to be able to celebrate 11-11 with them, for them, and for me.
My parents have albums full of pictures that folks have taken of them over the years and this photo is one of my favorite shots of them from the 70’s — Mike & Margaret always worked it, always looked good when they went somewhere. Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad, 52 years strong!
Unleashing My Inner Chingona 