Grandma Rosa Memories....

Hola Familia....

I wanted to be able to put these stories somewhere that everybody could go back and read them. If and when I get more I will keep adding them. Eventually when I can figure it out I would like to make an album or book with pictures and stories from our family that could be passed around . Hope Y'all enjoy and keep those stories coming !

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I am happy to say that I can still remember when I lived at Grandma Rosa's house. Homer
and I were going to St. Ann's and mom would take us on the bus to school and go back
and pick us up. Homer of course knew the whole neighborhood in about a three block
radius or maybe more. We would go and buy masa for Grandma Rosa's famous
gorditas that she made daily. To this date, I still prefer corn tortillas to flour. Those were
happy times especially when we all got together for special events or on Sunday for soup.

Chata
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My favorite memory is when each December 24th,Charles would drop me & the kids off at Grandma Rosa's home on his way to work (we owned only 1 car, so this was at 6 in the morning and usually we would be the 1st ones getting there) Grandma & Yaya would already be up preparing the meat for the tamales we made all day long....eventually the rest of the aunts got there, and by the time the men came home from work, the delicious tamales were ready...yum

Those were great days...everybody ate, visited, and the men would gather and play dominos or poker....until sometimes 2 or 3 in the morning....we would hurry home because we had to put the kids to bed and then Charles had to work putting bikes, toys, together, sometimes working until 6 a.m., and just as we were getting ready for bed, the kids would get up looking to see what Santa had left for them..... We had great times at Grandma Rosa's house!! and of course on Xmas day everybody gathered to open gifts....Gloria
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I can still smell the mole or menudo and rice cooking in the kitchen at her house as I walk in with my mom and my grandma . I can still feel the urge to go check out the living room because I was just told NOT to go in there ! LOL ! And playing with the Old Sewing machine in the hall ! (Do any of you remember what was in the little drawers of the sewing machine ?) hahaha
Andy
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The memories I have of the house by the expressway, one is the protector of the house, the big cement pillar in the front yard to climb and jump off of. The creek across the street that had crawl fish and minnows to catch, that has now been covered up with multiple lanes of cars zooming by. Walking with Yaya to Finesilver in the morning to get the San Antonio Light for Grandma Rosa to read. Sitting at the sewing machine and seeing who could make it pump the fastest. The best cake in town, just a plain yellow cake that at least for me was best with water, not milk, go figure. For some reason I was really mesmerized with the manual lawn mower, I would open the door of the weather worn shed and pull out the lawn mower and would like to see the grass fly up in the air. The faster you push the faster the blades would spin and shoot the grass in the air and couldn't belive this thing would cut the grass like that.The most memorable time was when I was about 5 or 6, the Nerf basketball hoop had just come out, or my parents had bought us our first. I don't know what I was doing, I saw the mailman deliver the mail so I went to get it to give to Yaya, I saw a Nerf hoop that had been delivered by the mailman, it did look kind of different if was wire not plastic, it didn't have a net, it didn't have the hook to hang it on the door. Well my love of basketball had me determined to find a place for it, I did. Just like Benjamin Franklin I discovered electricity, well my hoop was a wire antenna for the the tv and I found the perfect outlet to plug it into, that was the day my hair started to curl. I ran back to the mailbox and put the Nerf hoop back in and would never forget the memory that was BURNED to my brain.
Paul
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I can remember one time when I went with my Papo Joe to take care of amouse(I think ya'll know what I mean). Anyway, my Papo and I walk in thefront door to find Grandma Rosa chasing the mouse into Yaya's room. When Igot to the room, I looked in and saw Grandma Rosa standing in the middle ofthe room, with a broom, looking like a washing machine. Turning at thehips, missing the mouse everytime, the mouse ran under some sort of woodencabinet in the corner of the room. My Papo got another broom and got onthe floor. After locating the mouse under the cabinet, he stuck the broomunder there and did some kind of upward movement and there went the mouse.It flew about four feet high, along the wall and right back where it wasbefore.....under the cabinet. My Papo said some not so nice things inSpainsh to the poor mouse and closed all the doors. We had it !!!!!!Needless to say the mouse lost the battle with Grandma Rosa & my Papo Joe.

Greg
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I practically lived at "Tita's" house since my Grandma Bitsy also lived there after my Grandpa passed away. My memories of the house are the same from the familiar smells of menudo, mole and dye for the millions of cascarone eggs. I remember the sewing machine with the huge "pedal" because I used to park my behind on it and use it as a low swing. Tita's room was the ONLY room with the air conditioner that worked BUT could not be touched. I of course would close the front door that was always open and turn on the air conditioner to help cool off the house but as soon as that door closed, that was the give-a-way that I touched the air conditioner.Does anyone remember the HUGE Jesus 'Agony in the Garden' picture hanging in the entrance?

Alyssa
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Share the same memories with Alyssa pretty much...they also had that rocking chair in hallway with the big red pleather seat that sat right next to the phone. Yaya would just sit there and rock away while "Tita" was in her bedroom (living room). I remember their phone number I think: 227-6791, can anyone confirm that? I do remember they had a "party line" phone; we could pick up the phone and hear other peoples conversations on it. We found it so entertaining, that is until we got the donkey lady's number.

Leti
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Hey Primos,
My favorite memory is of Christmas Day getting to sit in the Living Room that was normally off limits. Entering the room and seeing all the presents under the silver tree, it looked like there were at least a hundred presents. Sitting there waiting to hear your name as the presents were being passed out. Watching the Silver Tree turn colors as the colored panels rotated around the the light. The smell of tamales, sitting at the big round table to eat. Listening to the older family members: aunts talking, uncles playing cards/dominoes and kids playing with the Christmas toys. We did not watch a lot of TV on Christmas, but I remember the TV always having the foil around the antennas and like the rest the sewing machine. [Anytime ya'll come over to my house you are more than welcome to sit on the pedal of that old sewing machine and remember the good old days, (lol)].
Luv Ya'll .....Cuz'n Thelma
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Grandma Rosa was the center of my world so I have so many beautiful memories of Grandma. She taught me how to spin a Top. The under 60 probably don't know what a top is but Grandma had a talent that the younger ones never got a chance to witness.She played marbles with me and made sure that I always won! She played a little softball at our Easter picnics but preferred to make sure that the older men didn't burn the BAR-B-Q!She would take us out to the chicken coop to gather all the eggs. She had about 6-8 hens and a couple of roosters which provided the house with fresh eggs. She also made sure that the roosters didn't chase us all over the place.She enjoyed watching baseball - all her brothers were excellent baseball players so she knew baseball. She would watch the whole game on that little set with the rabbit ears and foil (thanks to Thelma for remembering the foil) for better reception. Now everyone knows why Chata uses foil on the rabbit ears on her TV set!She watched Wrestling every week on TV and knew the names of all the wrestlers. I always enjoyed sitting down beside her to watch the wrestling matches because she would really get upset with the bad guys. Grandma also taught Chata and me how to drink wine at an early age - she was always concerned about how thin Chata and I were and so she would give us a shot of wine to help our appetite! If she could see me now, she would have held back some of the wine! She always had a beautiful smile for all her Grandchildren - I tried to tell her how bad each kid was but she just couldn't believe all those stories. She wouldn't even laugh at Tito for wearing the red cowboy boots that were hand-me-downs from Chata. Tito wore the leather off those red boots and then wanted for Aunt Bitsy to have them fixed so that he could still wear them. I offered to cut around the toes so that he would not outgrow the boots but that idea was nixed by Aunt Bitsy. Grandma would just give him a hug and smile!We were probably the only family in the USA & Mexico that used Mustard instead of lemon for the caldo. I don't know how that tradition got started at Grandma's house but the jar of mustard was always present whenever caldo was being served. And like everyone else, I can ever forget her Gorditas (the regular as well as the ones that had the bacon bits) and my favorite - the Chile Rellenos. These are just some of the wonderful memories of Grandma Rosa. Next round is for Yaya who celebrated two birthdays - Oct 10 & 11!
Homer
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ONE OF THE FOND MEMORIES IS THAT GRANDMA ROSA'S HOUSE ALWAYS HAD A GREAT AROMA AND THAT WAS BECAUSE SHE WAS ALWAYS COOKING DELICIOUS MEALS FROM SCRATCH. I DON'T KNOW FOR SURE IF SHE WAS ALWAYS IN THE KITCHEN DUE TO FACT THAT MANY OF US LIVED WITH GRANDMA ROSA AND YAYA. AT ONE TIME, IT WAS CHATA, HOMER, THEIR PARENTS, MY MOM (TIA ANGIE), MY BROTHER HENRY &MYSELF..........AND THERE WAS ALWAYS ROOM FOR ONE MORE. I REMEMBER THE PECANS IN HER BACKYARD, WHERE CHATA &I PLAYED "COMADRITAS" (PLAYING MEXICAN HOUSE) BY MAKING A CHILI SAUCE FROM FRESH TOMATOES &CHILIS THAT GREW WILD IN THE YARD. OUR BLENDER OR MOLCAJETE WERE THE OUTSIDE SMALL ROCKS. WE WOULD EAT IT WITH TORTILLAS &IT TASTED GOOD. (ALL THOSE GERMS (YUCK) &WE SURVIVED IT ALL AS A MATTER OF FACT, IT MADE CHATA &I STRONGER. LOLGRANDMA ROSA WAS A PRECIOUS &VERY GENEROUS PERSON. MIND YOU, SHE HAD HER DAUGHTER-IN-LAW (MY MOM) LIVING WITH HER. UNHEARD OF IN THESE DAYS &TIMES........SO I THINK THAT THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT GRANDMA ROSA'S CHARACTER AND KINDNESS. SHE HOLDS A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART...........I TRULY FEEL THAT OUR LORD BLESSED HER WITH SO MANY GOOD YEARS (99 YRS. TO BE EXACT) AND A LARGE LOVING FAMILY........BECAUSE GRANDMA ROSA ALSO HAD A SPECIAL PLACE IN OUR LORD'S HEART.

Rosie
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Memories of Grandma Rosa: There are so many memories of Grandma Rosa and 912 Cameron! I remember her always having food for everyone to eat. It amazed me that she and Yaya could whip up food for 10 persons or more in a matter of minutes and still have some left over. It reminds me of Jesus with the loaves and fish......they always had more than enough. I fondly remember her making her corn tortillas by hand and making perfectly round tortillas. As soon as they were done, she would spread "manteca" (Roeglein-with the pig) and salt.....and of course we couldn't eat just one! I guess that's why I have so much "manteca" on me!!! I looked forward to her stories of the "old" days. Christmas was the big event at her house! The silver tree with the rotating color wheel and all the presents under the tree. The men playing poker or dominoes, the aunts preparing or serving the food, the children playing and anxiously awaiting the time to open presents. Hats off to a great lady who was instrumental in creating so many memories for her family.
Nena
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"Hi, everyone! Although I can't express my childhood memories of Abuelita Rosa, I can share my memories that I have when I joined the family by marrying your favorite cousin and nephew, Homer! Oh, I forgot, "mi hijo Santo." (That's what Homer told me when he introduced me to the family at Abuelita Rosa's home. Abuelita Rosa gave a not too believable chuckle, giving me the impression Homer wasn't telling me the truth. You think? Then there was Lilly Belle, the only one in the family who gave me fair warning about her favorite cousin, Homer. Did I listen? Oh well, love is blind. God willing Homer and I will celebrate our 40th anniversary in April 2009. I know Lilly Belle will be waiting for me with a reserved spot (I hope). Lilly Belle always said I had a place in heaven for marrying Homer. I pray she is right. Every time we would visit Abuelita Rosa, I can remember her smile and I always felt so welcomed every time. Abuelita Rosa and Yaya always treated me just like my "Mama Grande" did when she was here with me. When Homer and I would drive up to Abuelita's home, Homer would always pick a rose from her rose garden and when she came to the door, Homer would tell her that he had bought it for me. Abuelita Rosa would only shake her head from side to side and laugh. Homer did this every time we went over so she had a lot of missing roses. I think Homer must completed the whole dozen or more! Just like everyone, I had the privilege of tasting her delicious food. It didn't matter what she cooked, everything tasted great! I also remember the holidays and special times I spent at Abuelita Rosa's. I hope you didn't mind my sharing a few memories with everyone. I always felt so comfortable being in her home. Abuelita Rosa was a special person. I consider this a blessing in my life and one of the best things that has happened to me in being part of your family."
Rose Vallejo
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My memory is of Grandma Rosa rocking me to sleep by the front door in the rocker . She did that for me for so long that as I got older I had to lift up my legs to be able to rock. She was a kind and loving woman .
Rosa de la Pena
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