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Whew, another scorcher of a day! Decided I would like to go see my parents' grave site as I do every time I come into town. I went by the flower shop and got a rose for my mom and a carnation for my dad, their favorite flowers. Both my parents are buried side by side close to a mesquite tree. From the looks of it, somebody in the family has been by recently as there were some withering flowers there.
Dad died at the age of 91 as a result of a fire in their home in 2007. Unfortunately, a heater shorted out somehow and started a fire in their bedroom. It quickly became obvious that the fire was more than they could handle so they tried making their way to the front door. My dad had pretty severe arthritis so when he fell in the hallway, he could not get up. My mother thought he was behind her the whole time till she got outside and realized he was no longer following her. The newspaper, for some reason, claimed that he had gotten out and then went back in to try to stop the fire. This was simply not true and I still harbor some anger at their reporting this as such. To this day, I am convinced that had the fire not gotten him, he would still be around and he would be pretty damn near 100 by now. He was a man of opinions and there was no doubt what he thought about anything cause he didn't give a hoot who you were, if you offended him, he told you and he was ready to throw down on a second's notice. He was not a man to suffer in silence! He was a carpenter by trade and built many homes in Corpus Christi and other places. He and my mother built their house themselves when they first married and moved to Corpus Christi from Laredo, TX. My dad would go to work and my mom would save whatever little she could from his paycheck. Once they had a few bucks, my dad would go buy what lumber he could and work on their house. What started out as a single room house eventually ended up as a three bedroom, two bath house that we grew up in. After my dad passed away and we decided to fix the house up for my mom, we decided that we would pull the sheetrock and paneling off the walls, repair any issues we found and insulate with new stuff. What we found showed the extent of my parents’ determination to build a house. The old insulation consisted of anything my father could fit into the walls. There were places where he had taken acoustic tiles he had salvaged from a building he worked at and cut them to fit in the wall. We also found newspaper used as insulation as well. You could tell that a lot of the lumber he used had been salvaged from other places as well. The house is very sturdy and well-built so we pulled the old stuff and re-insulated.
Mom passed in 2011 at the age of 86. She had a very peaceful passing which I am grateful for to this day. She was a beautiful woman with a heart of gold! I remember her every time I see my sisters because her features carried through. Mom was a quiet person but she also had opinions she made known and an honesty that was sometimes cringe worthy. If you were overweight, which I am, she told you! I would come into town, go to hug her and the first words out of her mouth would be "you need to lose some weight" which we would laugh about. We would tell her "mom, you can't say that to people!' and she would always respond "well, it's true, isn't it?". Mom was a housewife throughout her marriage and had her hands full with seven kids. She sewed a lot and made most of her own dresses. She knew what she liked and the colors she liked so she found it easier to just make her own most of the time. I remember as a child making play dough animals with her and reading to her as she sewed.
Together my parents made a heck of a pair! Their relationship worked well and they were married for 67 or 68 years. They actually met for the first time when mom was 8 years old and dad was 17 or 18. Dad and my mother's family worked in the fields and mom would be hanging around looking for somebody to play with. They say she would come around during breaks and my dad would play catch with her along with other young people in the group. They would see each other annually during harvest season and at one point, there was a stretch where they didn't see each other for several years.
Dad says mom was about 17 when they met again and he noticed she was not a little girl anymore! Their romance blossomed and they married when he was 28 and she was 18. In those days, the age disparity was normal and mom's family encouraged the relationship and marriage that lasted the rest of their lives. My parents had a funny relationship with plenty of laughter because of my dad's wicked sense of humor and my mom's quick retorts! One of the funniest things my dad came up with was telling my mom that he had arranged to be buried with his arms outstretched when he died. When she asked why, he said that it would be easier for when she died so that he would be ready to welcome her into his arms. That led to a lot of laughter and come backs by mom. I could go on for hours with funny stories of growing up with these parents and 6 siblings but I think that's a whole different blog.
I spent some time at the cemetery just weeding around their grave stone and making sure it was clean before hitting the road again. This is a nice cemetery with plenty of trees and lots of my relatives around. There’s a beautiful mesquite tree right by their grave site and the Vietnam memorial on the other side. My dad was buried with a Mariachi band playing his favorite song "Que me entierren cantando" which loosely translated means “That They Bury Me While Singing”. My mom was a very private person so her burial was quiet and simple.
Off to Chick-fil-a for one last chicken sandwich. Hate the company but love the chicken! That's another one off my list of must have food places that I can't get at home.
I stopped by my niece Bibi's place for a visit. I am very close with this niece as she and her brother Frank were only about 10 years younger than me as I was growing up. Since my mom would watch the kids while my sister worked, I spent a lot of time with them growing up. Bibi’s kids are awesome, Alex and Sarah are both beautiful young ladies and Isaiah is quite the handsome dude. I think he got that from our side, sorry David! David is Bibi's husband and has turned out to be quite the craftsman. He builds a bunch of stuff out of discarded lumber or pallets he takes apart. Since I dabble in this pastime as well, I can definitely say, I am impressed with the stuff he comes up with. Some stuff he makes, Sarah draws on. She is an awesome artist and will draw on anything she can, including herself! Bibi gave me a tour of the house and they have done a beautiful job on their house that they got as a fixer upper. They even converted their garage into this great movie theater where they have a popcorn machine, sofas, and a wall projector to watch movies in. I am so jealous!
Bibi is a riot because that girl has some moxy! She is all of about 5’3” and if you dip her in water, she might hit 100 pounds. She has no problem going toe to toe with anybody including men over 6’ tall and 200 pounds or better. She has this look and ferocity that makes these guys back down in fear! She just cracks me up because she flat out will tell you, she isn’t going to take crap from anybody and let the chips land where they may. Again, with opinionated people in this family. LOL
I got a call that my new footpads for the motorcycle came in! I picked them up and then went by Rey's Pit Stop and had him mount them for me. He was quick and his prices are very fair. I hung around for a bit talking with him and his wife. They couldn't believe I had ridden down from Alaska and treated me like a celebrity as a result. They had to have pictures of us together and of my license plate, which they said they were going to put on their wall. Next time, I ride down, I'll have to stop by and have them do my oil change for the return trip and just give my bike a general checkup. This is an honest mechanic who does good work. I left his shop and halfway back to the house I realized I had left my gloves on the seat and now only one glove remained. I went back to the shop in the hope that the glove had fallen off there and that I would find it. I pulled in and Rey immediately came over with a worried look on his face and asked if something had gone wrong. He was relieved when I told him I was just looking for my missing glove. They helped me check the immediate area but no glove. I followed the route I took the first time and there, two miles away, was my glove in the middle of the road. I pulled over and ran out and picked it up. I then rode around a while to test the new footpads and they are great! My feet sit flat and comfortable. The ride home should be much better now.
The rest of the day was uneventful and consisted mostly of riding around aimlessly enjoying the wind and sun. I went to a movie this evening with my longtime friends Mando and Norma. Can't remember the movie title to save my life, just the fun we have hanging out together. Mando and Norma have been married as long as I have and I was there from the beginning. Mando and I go back as far as high school and Norma; I met when they started dating. We always hung out together from the beginning with a huge love for going to movies, which we all did on a regular basis.
They dropped me off after the movie and I decided to call it a day. Watched a little TV and hit the hay.
Following is some detail on the pictures:
Pic 1 - Mom and Dad: Visiting mom's and dad's final resting place. Dad was 91 when he passed and mom was 86. Miss them both.
Pic 2 - Best Chicken Sandwiches: Chick-fil-A sandwich, but only one.....really.
Pic 3 - Casa Barrera: This is the backyard of my niece's house. Her husband, David, is the Pallet Master! Almost everything is made with reclaimed lumber and looks awesome. I woodwork but this is steps ahead of any of my stuff.
Pic 4 - Casa Barrera: My niece Bibi, I mean Toni, at her house. Total remodel by themselves!
Pic 5 - The Pit stop: At Rey's Pit Stop to get new floorboards installed. If you ever find yourself in Corpus Christi needing bike work, this is the place. Quick, fair price and really nice folks!
Pic 6 - Work Completed: The new floorboards installed and tested. LOVE THEM! They vibrate the feet and feel great!
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