reunited

I was in Kansas a few weeks back for the big ol' family reunion, which happened to coincide with the Mexican Fiesta held in my ol' 'hood. Relatives came from all over the states and Mexico...even one from BoCoCa, Brooklyn that I hadn't seen in 15 years. Crazy to think that he lives just a few miles away and I haven't seen him in that long. One of the weekend's highlights was seeing mi abuelita play the violin in her mariachi group. She played a 45-min set and as always, blew everyone away.
My grandmother helped start up the first all female Mariachi group in the country--something the macho mariachi groups couldn't quite grasp. Ladies playin' instruments and actually bein' good at it? No way...
At the peak of the group's livelihood things were shattered, when half of the group was killed in the Kansas City Hyatt Regency collapse in 1981. Strangely enough, it all occurred during the last scheduled family reunion. All I remember from that time was waiting around various hospitals to find out if grandma had been admitted or not--not really understanding the severity of the accident. Years later she would recount to me that daunting period of time spent under the debris, questioning her god as to whether or not she would get out alive. She noted that if it weren't for a larger man that had fallen next to her that had taken the brunt of the debris, she probably wouldn't be here today. After all of her physical rehabilitation, abuelita was back on her feet and no sooner did she have her violin in her hand, she was out regrouping the mariachi. Maybe one of these days I'll get off my ass and start playing the violin again. Abuelita told me that I better get prepared for next year, because I'll be joining her--on stage.