My Abuelitos Narrative

When I was younger, I always used to wonder why I did not look like my mother. I had pale skin, blonde hair and blue eyes in contrast to her tanned skin, dark hair and dark eyes. Growing up, I realized it was because of all the ethnicities I have in my background.

It’s always as if I am on an amusement park ride when someone asks me about my background. “Where do I start?” I always ask myself. I go through a series of emotions. There is excitement, suspense, and fright. I never know how the other is going to react. The explanation of my background begins with the two lovely people in this photo. My abuelitos, which in Spanish, means “grandparents”.

Neither of my grandparents are of Mexican origin. My grandmother is originally from Italy

The pretty lady in the photo is my abuelita (grandmother) and the handsome man lying beside her is my abuelito (grandfather). With the hammocks, palm trees and sand seen in this picture, it appears as if they are on a relaxing vacation of some sort, and indeed, it is. This photo was shot during their honeymoon a few months after their marriage, which had happened in Cordoba, Mexico. To begin, my grandmother was born in Italy in 1936, living for a while until after World War II. Due to the effects of a war, the country was going through an economic decline. The government of Mexico had offered plenty Italians land and in result, several immigrated to Mexico during the time. In comparison, my grandfather was born in Portugal in 1935 and had also left the country through Brazil due to the aftermath of the war and immigrated to Mexico for better living conditions.

Well, how did they even meet? On September 16, on the year 1959, my grandmother believes to be, is Grito de Dolores. Which in other words, is Mexico’s Independence Day. On this day, several grand parties are held through day and night all over the country. On this day, against all odds, they happened to have end up at the same party at the same time in