Phoenix, Tucson , Nogales....Oh My!

Well, I went on a two-day trip to the Salas Family Reunion in Nogales, Mexico. While living here in Sonoma County is great, traveling is kind of a pain. We left the house at 3:30 am to catch a 6:10 am flight to Phoenix. We barely made the plane and were the last people to board. Grady was a trooper and ran as fast as his little legs would take him. We landed in Phoenix, met my brother (who flew in from Ontario), rented a car and visited my aunt and grandma for lunch. We then drove down to Tucson and met up with my cousins. The following day we drove to Nogales, Mexico and attended my aunt's renewing of her vows for her 30th wedding anniversary.


It was an emotional trip, as I didn't know much of my dad's side of the family. He never taught us Spanish and, therefore, we were a little out of the loop on the ceremony and subsequent conversations. They were gracious, kind and happy to see us. Grady was a complete joy to travel with and they all loved him. He kept saying "I have so many cousins!"


My father has been estranged from his family most of his life and we didn't get the opportunity to know them. This was a great chance (after 37 years) to embark on this journey and get to know everyone. I did liken the feeling to being adopted and finding out you have this entire family you knew nothing about. They should have felt like strangers, but they didn't. They were completely accepting and I wonder why my father didn't help us to know them. As a parent now, I vow to make sure Grady knows all of his family. In the end, that's all you have.