¡Feliz 10 de Mayo!

[Carlos Marentes]

Primero que nada ¡Feliz Día de las Madres! Happy Mother's Day!
For many of us, this is a day of both, a celebration of our dearest relatives alive and a remembrance of loved relatives who are no longer with us...
Today we celebrate and remember our family...

Eight years ago, on this day (or maybe one or two days after Mother's Day, I don't remember), we lost our youngest brother Martin.
I remember how he was specially mourned by his nieces and nephews.
They knew he was moving to heaven, yet they were sad because they also knew that they would never see and play with Tío Martin anymore.
They need to know that Martin is that shiniest star in the sky...
Every night, Martin comes out to look after us, to make sure that nothing bad happens to his nieces and nephews, to bless his mother and to find out what the rest of us are doing at night.
You miss Martin?
Just go outside and look up to the sky.
The blinking star is Martin, happy to see you again...

¡Te recordamos con afecto, Martin!

Our father Antonio died at the age of 77 on July 10, 2005, after a serious illness. He was born on May 10, 1928. He was from Aguascalientes, México.
He was not a very affectionate father, like many of us at the Marentes family unfortunately...
Due to his poor and miserable childhood (maybe he did not even had a childhood) one of his virtues was that he was a hard working father.
He worked very hard all his life to support his big family...
Although some of us become very close to him during his final years, I don't like to remember him as a very sick and vulnerable person, tied to a bed with all his arms damaged as a result of too many transfusions and needles...
Instead, I like to remember him as the father working as a boot maker for Tony Lama...
I accompanied my mother to El Paso in many occasions on Fridays (Pay Day) to wait for my father at the corner of Paisano and Overland, a block from the old Tony Lama Factory.
We would then go to the Kress to buy some ice cream and from there to Silva's Supermarket to buy groceries... And then, back to Juárez, our home town.
My father was fired from Tony Lama. And I am very proud that he was fired not because of an "economic crisis" or because he was lazy. He was fired because he, along with other workers, attempted to form a union at Tony Lama to improve their salaries and more dignified working conditions...
Years later, when I asked about this event, he told me: "Es que nunca debemos permitir que los de arriba nos tengan la pata en el pescuezo..."
¡Feliz cumpleaños, papá!

Madre abnegada y trabajadora
madre de 14: seis hijas y ocho hijos
Dos murieron a muy temprana edad:
Victoria y Pedrito...
Martin murió hace ocho años.

A selfless and hard working mother
mother of 14: six daughters and eight sons
Two died at a very early age:
Victoria and Pedro...
Martin died eight years ago.

I remember my mother in La Cuesta in the 60's...
La Cuesta was the most desertic, isolated and inhospitable place in Ciudad Juárez.
We did not had electricity, water, gas...
I feel very proud the time I accompanied my mother and other residents of La Cuesta to the City Hall (Presidencia Municipal) to demand the provision of these basic services in our colonia...
She was a mother with 12 kids to take care, many clothes to wash, lots of food to prepare for such a big family and a demanding husband...
Yet, I remember her standing before the presidente de Juárez (The Major) talking softly and patiently about justice and fairness for the residents of La Cuesta...
I learned from my mother then, that while you must take care of yourself and your family, you also need to fulfill your responsibility as a member of a community.

¡Feliz Día de Las Madres, mamá!

Esai was eight years old yesterday...
Happy Birthday, Esaito!
Esai is one of the most intriguing grandson of all my grandkids. He is shy and has a very profound look...
I remember when he was very small living in El Paso along with the rest of his family. I would said something and his face would not show any emotion...
I have many photos of Esai, but I still have to discover one of him smiling.
But the most memorable recall of Esai is from our family camp in Jémez last year...
He had an unfortunate accident (it always happens in our family reunion camps, at least one kid and one adult gets injured) and he was taken immediately to Los Alamos for medical aid.
When Esai returned to the camp his left arm has been bandaged...
It was incredible, Esai looked like a revolutionary wounded in a battle.
He looked like the comandante Che Guevara who was wounded at a battle in Cuba, in 1958.
El Che was wounded during the historic battle of Santa Clara and had a cast in his arm for many days which was very bad because he needed his two arms, one to carry his riffle and the other to carry his smelly habano (cigar)...
To me, this is a signal that Esai has a great future.
Who knows, maybe he will be the first Marentes President of the United States...
I si no es él, pues ahí está la Fridis o hasta la Mayis, en fin con tantos Marentes algún día nos tiene que tocar la White House...
Ojalá y también algún día recupere su español...
Por lo pronto
¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Esai!

---

[MariaElena]

mija its wired you think your mom smells good becasue i like the way my mom smells too, somr times when I am really missing her I can smell her its really wired but nice at the same time.

[Xochitl Lugo]

Ok first of all i want say Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the Marentes moms. Every one of them is special in their own way. I give thanks to God for blessing me with such a big and beautiful family!!! My abuelita is sweet, caring and I enjoy her company every time she comes to visit! She's truely an amazing person and I admire her all the things she's done for our family!!! My mom is my backbone and best of all she's loving and smells good all the time. She makes the best food and has always been there for ALL of us when we needed her the most! My sisters are my inspiration and I thank them for giving me the most beautiful nephews and nieces! They're strong, pretty, funny, and most of all they're super intelligent. They have taught me lot and have taken care of me since! As for my aunts and cousins you guys are all beautiful women and the best loving mom's ever! Happy Mothers DAY!!!

Oh yeah and ESAI Happy Birthday mijito I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tio Martin thank you for always taking care of me at night when I go out. I know your watching over us just like you did when you were here physically.

Abuelito te extranamos mucho. Descanse en Paz!!!

[MariaElena]

First I would like to say that I hope all the mom's in our familia had a blast with loved ones, I won't up with about 50text from friends and family thanks for all your text they mean alot to me, thanks to my father inlaw, my kids for cleaning the kitchen, and Chris for spending every Sunday wiht his mon since he has moved, you have not missed a Sunday love ya baby! and the best part of my day was when my mom called. she played Las Manaitias for me, are shared others songs even one that is Cruz's fave, I belive mom is misses him so much wish he could get off what ever trip he is on, and stay sober enough to talk to our mother. Mom never holds things in she is very forgiving, and all she has is us I will always be here mom, so far but never does one day go by that I dont think of you, and what your doing, are you alone or sad, I always picture you with a smile near you garden, I miss you so much!!

[MariaElena]

Ok I love that Jacket Alicia is wearing, and just as beautiful as she is today, we hope she is doing better.

[Cristina]

WOW remembering them brings saddness and happness to my heart. Love you all.

[buggs]

What a date of such significance, it should mean something special to everyone and know that we have been touched by it in some way. I really want to honor our mother who is the best mother anyone could hope for. She has sacrificed so much of herself for us, in her own unselfish way, always worrying about someone, always wishing the best for someone, always wanting to spend time with someone, always wishing she had something to give to someone. Not just sometimes, but always.

It is so ironic about my Dad and Martin, who would had known time would connect us all in some way in a time of great significance. Good to know Esai also shares in that special bond, connected not just in time lines but in blood within us, all of us, always.

So with that, I want to wish all the mothers in our family a "happy mother's day!"
Always!