Being the 10th day of May could seem like a regular day for most people. However, for those of us that are the sons and daughters of immigrants from Mexico and/or from most Latin American countries, it is one of the most special days of the year. Growing up, my parents made sure that every “diez de mayo” we celebrated this special day by visiting family, neighbors and often times both my Grandmother’s graves in Tijuana. El Diez de Mayo, (May 10th) is Mother’s Day and it does not matter what day of the week it lands on, Mexicans celebrate by eating out, hosting parties and sometimes, like we do for my abuelitas, some people take flowers to the cemetery.
In my family, to this day, we make sure the Mamís in the familia have a special day. This means flowers, spending time with them, eating the great food my Dad cooks and often times experience the visit of a live Mariachi, Trio or Conjunto Norteño to sing the traditional, Mañanitas. My Mom likes to spend the day eating, sharing stories and spoiling her granddaughters. To give you a visual, in the movie, “Fools Rush In” Mathew Perry visits Salma Hayek’s family and there is this big dinner party, well, that’s my parents house on May 10th and Sunday’s Mother’s Day. Yes, she likes to celebrate both dates, if you met my mother you would understand and not criticize her, she is a social butterfly.
I’m sure we can all sing our own praises about Mom and/or the person that raised us, so, I’m going to take a moment to tell you about Doña Meche. She is an amazing Mom and now that I’m in my 30s I’ve realized how big of a hero she is to me. Her life story may not be very different from other Moms in the community. She crossed the border to improve the quality of life for her and provide family in Mexico in the late 1960s. She worked as a Nanny and cleaned houses Monday through Friday and crossed the border to Tijuana for the weekend, a place she called home.
Soon, she met an amazing man at a bus stop in San Ysidro and fell in love with him, after four months of dating she married him and had two daughters. My Dad and she have been married for over 36 years. Doña Meche raised us to work hard, stand up for what we believe and to be educated-career women. These are values that most women with her level of education and socio economic status from Mexico in her generation would see as “radical.” She never cared about the criticism she received or the chismes she would learn were circulating amongst her most trusted friends about her single daughters living in a different city alone and not married. Doña Meche is an amazing woman and most importantly, she is my Mamí!
I’m sure many of us share similar stories about our Mamí and on that note, “Feliz Día de las Madres a todas las mamacitas de Long Beach!” –Happy Mother’s Day Long Beach.
So, if at midnight or early morning May 10th you heard live music or you saw someone singing outside a window in your neighborhood, it may very well have been someone surprising their wife, mom, sister, tía, abuelita, madrina, prima, etc. with a “serenata.” Or better yet, you may be my neighbor and it’s the Gonzalez, Ramirez, Preciado and Saldaña families celebrating el “Diez de Mayo!”
A mi Madre querida, mi Hermanita, Tías, Primas, Comadres, Amigas Feliz Dia, las Madres, las quiero mucho!