The Three Amigos

 

In previous blogs, I have spoken of my other two cousins briefly with who I grew up with and with whom I was very close. All three of us are near the same age -- one is a little older than myself only by four months and the other one is about six months younger than me. We were quite often referred to as the three amigos. Later we had adopted that we were Alvin and the Chipmunks. Where one was, so were the other two. Outside of my summers with my BFF from childhood, much of the other summertimes were spent with these two cousins. Remember my friends were far and few between, but my cousins were my constant. They loved and accepted me even with all my quirky characteristics.

My older cousin lived next door to a dairy. I actually believe that is where I got my love of country air smell developed. She and I used to climb through the fence posts by her house and go visit the cows at the dairy almost on a daily basis when I was visiting her. I used to love petting the cows and offering them hay from their troughs. Their noses were so soft. I used to love when they would lick my hands. One time I wandered off away from my cousin to this area of skinny dark enclosures that held little calves inside them. They used to suckle my fingers and let me pet them. I'm sure if the dairy farmer had found out I was petting them, I'm sure he would have been upset with me. I didn't realize until my cousin told me that those special calves were being kept to be harvested as veal. There was only one time that veal hit my lips and it was because I didn't know it and I spit it out, but after that day with the calves, I vowed to never eat veal in my lifetime because of those precious little innocent calves. It's unfortunate my heart didn't feel the same about full grown cows -- I still love steak immensely.

Another thing I remember about my cousin's house and cows is that whenever there was a wedding or anniversary in our family lineage, my Uncle and Aunt would get a bull and raise it on the side of their house for a few months before the weddings or anniversary celebrations.  I remember this happening twice that I can recall. At some point the bull would go away and show up as beef mole at the wedding or anniversary. My Uncles and Aunts made the best mole I have ever tasted in my life. They also were known for the delicious tamales as well. The family would always get together at the houses of my two cousins to make tamales. I remember we used to have an assembly line to spread the masa on the husks before meat was added and then steamed to perfection. These tamale events usually occurred around the Christmas and New Year Holidays. Oh yes, there was always a pot of pozole or menudo cooking on the stove as well.

Many memories were made at my younger cousin's house as well. Her father, my uncle, owned what was originally a produce stand, which actually became a produce market. He ran that business for years and was very successful. Everyone knew the care and love he put into his produce. There were several times, we three would join him and her brothers at the swap meet as well to sell the produce. Oh his watermelons and cantelopes were the sweetest. Between all my cousins households, there was never a shortage of food products.

As we got into our teens, my uncle and my aunt took my cousins, along with my youngest cousin's brothers to the Santa Anita Race Track. I remember my uncle asked all us kids to pick out some horses and he would place bets for us. On this particular bet it was an exacta (I think that was what it was called.). All I knew was that it had the potential to make more money. So pick our horses we three girls did. Guess what? THEY WON!! My uncle gave us our winnings and we were happy campers for the rest of that day. I remember after we left that race track, we all went out to dinner. That was a really great memory for me.

As young adults, when I would visit, we would attend a couple Calvary Chapel Churches. I loved when we would talk about Jesus and His love for us. Prior to a bunch of my cousins finding Jesus, we had our moments of mischief and let's just say, we lived more in the flesh than we should have been living. But after Jesus, those days were behind us. My older cousin and I backslid a couple times when we got to be adults, but those days are way behind us now as well. I know we all love Jesus immensely now. God was always present in our lives. When we were little, most family events were imbedded in the Catholic faith. When we all got older, we turned toward Calvary Chapel Church.

The three of us stayed very close up until my second divorce. Then my other two cousins got into their own marital relationships and my younger cousin started having kids of her own. Due to how our lives took different paths, we didn't spend as much time together and grew apart. However, when we do get to see each other, we just pick up where we left off and catch up on the happenings in our lives. I will forever remember them as the two (along with my BFF) who made my childhood a happier time for me, during what could have been some of the darkest times for me when it came to my immediate family and school childhood.

Although these two cousins were the ones I spent the most time with, I actually had several other cousins who impacted my life in a positive way. I believe I wrote about them in a previous blog post.

1 Timothy 5:8  "But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."

Proverbs 22:6  "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."