Crystal City, Texas
IN THE DRIVEWAY sit a pickup truck from San Benito and an SUV from north of Dallas. On the street is my Fusion, from Houston.
Not too far away, at one sister’s house sits a rented van from California and another rented vehicle, this one from San Antonio, rented by a Californian. A block away, at another sister’s house sit a car from Austin and another one from La Coste.
Soon, several other San Antonio vehicles will arrive, as will one from San Marcos and another from Floresville. There may be more from The Valley.
The people of those cars are all here for one thing, to help celebrate the 70th birthday of Jesús José García, my brother-in-law for more than forty years.
What a lucky guy. Not only does he have an accent on each of his three names — as does his brother, José Jesús García (don’t ask), who is also here to join the festivities — he also has an extended family who thinks the world of him.
BUT EVEN AS this weekend is about Jess, as we all call him, it’s about more than that. It’s about the need to connect and reconnect and reconnect again. It’s about seeing each other face-to-face and not just on a Facebook page.
It’s about sharing new stories and retelling (and retelling again) old stories. It’s about collectively remembering those who are no longer here and about longing for simpler times, times we sometimes doubt were ever that simple but long for nonetheless.
It’s about remembering hardships and challenges and the brave, often desperate acts taken by people to overcome them.
It’s about family. When family calls, family responds, whether it is to mourn, heal wounds, hold hands, encourage, or to simply sit back, enjoy a good meal and guzzle down some cold ones in celebration of a life.
Of all of our lives.