R.I.P. Petunia

                                                     Mary Ellen
                                                   1941-2004

Happy Birthday to my late sister, Mary Ellen, whom we lost in 2004

Little sis. I always think of you, miss you, and love you!!

One image of you embedded in my mind is me leading you by the hand on a cold winter morning as we walked to school one day in the late 1940s; you look so beautiful, all bundled up in your winter clothes. We made our way to the little creek that flowed by our school, and I vividly remember that we stopped and cracked the ice in the frozen creek before making our way up the hill that was our playground at Vail Elementary School...I remember how beautiful you looked in your wedding gown when you married Danny Garcia in 1961… Sis, you're missed by one and all...Give Mom, Pops, and Rachel a big hug for all of us...Till we meet again...love you, Sis.

           Mary Ellen was fondly called "Petunia" by family and friends.

A bit Chilly

By kiki

It was a bit chilly in the varrio this morning. When I walked Connie out early this morning, where was she going so early in the morning you ask? Well, she has to go to work to keep me living in style, I noticed frost on the roofs of the houses and cars so what did I do?? I went back to bed to stay warm...You guys should all become "kept men!!"

Fumarndo Marijuana

By kiki

One cold day in the winter of 1952, when I was attending Montebello High School, some friends and I were standing in a tight circle in the parking lot of the Tasty-Freeze that was on Whittier Blvd close to the high school as two old Mexicana ruca's chimosa's (gossiping old women) were passing by. As they passed by us, we overheard one say to the other, “mirar, mirar, estan fumarndo marijuana” (not sure of my spelling in Spanish) roughly translated “look, look, they are smoking marijuana” Hell, we weren’t even smoking Lucky Strikes cigarettes!

“Chicken Bugs”

                                       Tales from the Simons Brickyard

                                                        
By kiki

When I was about 14 years old (circa 1951) and living in Simons, a friend, Coy, and I were dating two girls, Julia and Maria, respectively. They were both about 14 years old. One Saturday afternoon, Maria told me that her parents were going out that night to paint the town red, that Julia would be spending the night with her, and that Coy and I could meet her and Julia at her house. Coy and I kept an eye out for Maria's parent's car. As soon as they drove off, Coy and I made our way to Maria's backyard, where the girls were waiting to let us in through the back door. Soon with the lights out, we started painting the house red. We lost track of time because Maria's parents came home while we were still there with the girls. Coy and I ran out the back door; we didn't know where to hide, so we ran into the chicken coop. We hid there till the lights in the house went out. We quietly walked out of the chicken coop and headed home as soon as the light went out. The next day Coy and I were full of chicken bugs. Hell! We didn't know that chickens had bugs!!