Abe Observes

By Abe Villarreal

When Nana Rafaela was still living, she would be the one to say the prayer before Thanksgiving Dinner, and Christmas Eve dinner, and any other time there was enough family to gather around for a special occasion.

We always looked to her because she was the matriarch of the family. The oldest person in the room is expected to do the prayer and other ceremonial acts of togetherness. When it was time to eat, everyone would gather in a big circle, holding hands, head bowed, and she would begin.

By Abe Villarreal

As we approach 2025, it’s easy to think of time in quarters. We’ve been living this twenty-first-century life for almost a quarter century. Some of you may be living in your third or fourth quarter of life. 2025. Seems like a year that will be remembered for something, for some time to come.

It will soon be 25 years since I graduated from high school. We were called the class of the millennium and there were great fears that we would all disappear when the clock struck midnight on December 31, 1999.

It was an exhilarating time. If you were my age, you wanted to see what would happen on that first day of the new century. If you were my parents' age, you saved up canned food, water jugs, and dried beans to survive in this brave new and unknown world.

By Abe Villarreal

It's the final weekend before the presidential election and the last thing I want to do is write about politics. So, I won't.

You will find politics on almost every other page of wherever you read this. Him vs her. Right vs left. You vs me. The country is ready to move on.

I think there should be more writing, and reading, that doesn't focus on something vs something else. Writing about people who learn something they never knew of before because they had an encounter with a person they thought would be uncomfortable to encounter.

By Abe Villarreal

Writing comes with its own highs and lows. Sometimes words flow like a river. Other times, the blank screen is your worst enemy. Then, there are times, when you receive an email or a nice, handwritten letter in the mail. It's from someone you don't know but feels that he or she knows you.

I don't know most of my readers. You are out there somewhere. Reading over breakfast. Newspapers in hand. Coffee too. Reading on your phone. You are readers and that's enough for me to know that you all are good people. Good enough to read. We need more of you.

By Abe Villarreal

Where I live, most people eat Mexican food. There are other kinds of foods to choose from, but Mexican food is usually the first, second, and last option.

I used to quibble with my not-so-Mexican friends about the authenticity of the dishes in each of the towns I have lived. The taste of the beans. The fluffiness of the rice. The color of the red or green sauce. Whether an egg should be on an enchilada or not. I'm sure I sounded like a food snob. Then, one day, I realized that none of it mattered.

By Abe Villarreal

Today, somewhere in America, a mom is getting the family ready for church. Moms do that. They get everyone ready to do things. They are good at that. Whether we want to do them or not.

Today, somewhere in America, a family is traveling back home from a getaway weekend. We all need a getaway.

We don't get to them as much as we'd like. The kids are asleep in the back or watching a movie on their phones. They don't know what they are missing. Dad is driving because he always likes to be the driver.

By Abe Villarreal

One summer ago, I was in Maine. It was the first time I had been to that part of New England, and I went because I hadn't been there before. This past summer, I was in Spain. I went there for work, and I wished I had seen more and stayed longer.

I'm already thinking of next summer. That's when we think about vacations and going away. Really, we can go away at any time. Pick a date. Take time off. I think we shouldn't wait until summer to do the things we want to do all year long.

By Abe Villarreal

Every time we enter the month of August I start to think about fall, and about holidays, and about food. The sunshine of summer is always welcome when it first arrives. Now, I'm ready for it to take its own holiday. This summer has been hot.

Fall is always memorable in the Southwest. We don't get the changing of the leaves or dramatic fluctuations in weather. Our streets and front porches don't look like what you see in movies. That's okay. We live here for a reason. We live here because it is like something you don't see in the movies.