Quick trip for Day of the dead

I took a very short trip to Uruguay for two nights and three days. I left Monday morning and got back today. Many people were traveling back and forth to visit family for the Day of the Dead Holiday similar to Memorial Day in the United States. How lucky for Daniel and family to have Nela alive and well. She lights up when she sees her children and grandchildren visit her, the same way my grandmother Hilda used to light up with a big smile as well. She would be 97 if she were alive today. 

 

Remembering Mama Hilda 

Hilda Alvarenga married Carlos Henriquez at age 15 and had 8 children by the time she was 28. In those days in 1939 when she got married, it was not uncommon to marry that young. You could legally get married at age 14. 

 

Mami Hilda is a Latter-day Saint pioneer of El Salvador. She was asked to be the Relief Society President of the first small branch in San Salvador. That story has been published in the Daughters in My kingdom publication for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, pg.92.

 

Mami Hilda liked being her own boss. She owned a Beauty Salon and a Boutique where women would buy clothes, shoes, make-up, perfumes. Her business grew to even sell toys and even home goods like towels and sheets.  It was like a mini Target. I remember in December you could hear the cash register ringing constantly and you could see people lined up to pay for gifts they were buying for Christmas. 

 

Mami Hilda had a way of letting you know what she was thinking. When she spoke, she never kept you guessing. If she didn’t like something she would tell you up front. She was known to be candid, bold but always sincere. She didn’t waste time going around in circles. Some people thought she was a little up -tight but one thing I remember is that she managed kids very well. Her biggest fear was to raise spoil brats or parasites. She would give them one look, and they knew what she meant. She wanted her children to get an education and succeed on their own 

 

Mama Hilda cooked the best food. She created the best dishes from scratch. Her chili con carne, spaghetti, chicken soup and pan con pavo were the best! She loved cake and quesadilla too, even when she knew she was diabetic. 

 

The last time I saw my grandmother, Hilda was right before she passed away. The doctors discovered she had cancer when she was about my age but didn’t tell her so she wouldn’t get sad, and died a few years after that. 

 

“These are a few of her favorite things.” 

 

If mami Hilda were alive today, this is what I would say to her closing my eyes to reach out to you in Heaven.  

 

Mami Hilda, I read recently that the same part of the brain that is in charge of processing our senses is also at least in part for storing emotional memories, with that in mind, when I think my life is too hard, I think of you. If I long to hear your voice and see your smile, I FaceTime my mother. I will buy a new dress and a nice pair of shoes like the ones you sold in your boutique. I would get a manicure or pedicure, splashing some Jean Nate to my feet and legs and why not, a massage and facial too just like the ones you offered at your salon. I would write poems the way you used to. I would sing in a choir like you even though I can’t carry a tune. I would learn crochet to make a beautiful, scarf, blanket or make Barbie dresses too. I would ask Alexa to play los churumbeles from Spain or a Carlos Gardel’s tango like “El dia que me quieras” I would go to the beach and sip on a cold coconut drink. I would travel to Europe, your favorite destination. I would watch a novella, visit a small town, and buy from a random vendor just to contribute to his or her business and find someone I could give those things to. I would cook up a storm and invite the family for dinner and have huge bottles of Coca-cola on the table. I would get a newspaper and read it from cover to cover to keep up with current events, but most of all, I would read my scriptures and appreciate those teachings found in them to better my life and to know Christ the way you know Him, and I would say a prayer of gratitude to you, closing my eyes to reach out to you in Heaven. 

 

With love,

Vero