An Aunt remembers Abuelita

Today was bittersweet as I visited Aunt Mary (Ruiz) Sanderson in Tucson, Arizona. Her beautiful home and gorgeous desert landscaping welcomed us with open arms just like she did. It saddened me to see her aging...she will be 84 years old in November. She is my father's sister and they were 2 years apart, close siblings. Her blue eyes opened brightly when I explained to her that her mother, my abuelita didn't turn 100 years old after all. She hadn't been born in 1900, but in 1901. All her thoughts flew away as I explained the results of my research and we discussed the Spanish immigrant's inability to read or write and all this time most of the family thought she was born June 24, 1900 when in truth, her parents were married May 1900 and she was born June 1901. Her blue eyes were so like her grandfather's: Juan Francisco Silvan Hernandez even though her parents both had brown eyes. The Spanish influence had their way with her and she is a lovely lady. What a special day we had and sharing Mom with her was so nice. They were once sisters in law and spent their youth together among all the memories. She misses her siblings -- Aunt Millie in Woodland, Uncle Frank in Grass Valley, Uncle John and Aunt Carnie in Winnemucca, Aunt Antoinette and Uncle Tony in Woodland and then Aunt Rita all the way to Battle Creek, Michigan... So many brothers and sisters spread so far apart. Another BEAM ME UP, SCOTTY wish that they could all see one another but it's not to be... She is quite excited that I will be in Fuentesauco and Malaga soon... and then I can finish our Silvan story about my own abuelita! Butterflies in my stomach for September!