From May 5, 2009- Snippets & Snapshots

Cinco De Mayo has been a time-honored tradition in my family ever since my father met my stepmother 15 years ago. Not one of us is Hispanic or Spanish or even speaks Spanish fluently. And yet Cinco De Mayo has come to mean barbeques, Coronas and horseshoes in the rain. On that day all who gather are family, and as we all sing in chorus style that "there's booze in the blender and soon it will render, that frozen concoction that helps us hang on," we really believe it's so.

Red, green and yellow chili pepper lights hang from the hearth of the fireplace, a smiling cactus holds dips on the kitchen table, and a dancing pepper sings Ole- Ole, Ole- Ole feeling hot, hot, hot. Family, friends, friends of friends mill around my parents house as if it were the Taj Mahal. We meet and greet familiar faces that we haven't seen in a year. Stories are shared, jokes are made and we laugh, boy do we laugh. Simple card games like Uno Attack turn into drinking games, flip-flops are lost in the shuffle and at least one person gets their photo snapped while they are in the Sombrero.

This year it seems as though our annual celebration of a holiday that in no way belongs to us, will not be happening. I am bummed beyond belief. Attendees that I anticipate year after year will not be declaring that "with all of our running and all of our cunning, if we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane," they won't be devouring Shawnie's tacos or be attempting to drink out of Dad's stein filled with holes.

I'm going to have to create my margarita solo ( with a splash of Bols Orange Curacao) and be una cabeza de loro alone this year (Spanish meaning; a parrot head).

As my family grows I realize how important having a special tradition is to me. I'm not talking Christmas or Thanksgiving; I'm speaking more so of the Country Music Festival that my best friend Amy and I go to every year or the flea market scavenger hunt. If I hand down anything special to my children, it's going to be a tradition unique to our family. (Sombreros will be optional, but horseshoes in the rain required.)