Javier
Javier liked that he was Mexican and he was proud of it. He loved his town of Monte Escobedo in the state of Zacatecas. The nickname for his town was "El Monte". It's a two hour drive from the city of Zacatecas. It's up in the mountains. The mountain above their town gets snow on it sometimes. It gets very cold there at nite (in the 30's) but will warm up during the day to 75 or more and that's just the winter. I never went there in the summer but hear that it gets very very hot.
He took pride in how he looked. Sometimes it would take him longer to get ready than me.
He took great care in his truck, the Ford Expedition. He made custom carpets from the highest quality carpet at his work, Mayfair Carpet & Furniture store. He would get a car wash once a week. And there was always something he was working on for his truck.
He was a hard worker. I once did inventory around Christmas time at Mayfair and got to see Javier working first hand. He gave 150% all through the day. He never stopped. People were calling him from everywhere, the sales girls on the floor, a new truck delivering 50 sofas, the warehouse to rearrange things or find things. He was the only person who knew where everything was. He would fix things his boss, Pat Murphy couldn't. No one could get along with Pat because he was rough around the edges but Javier wouldn't let him give him any shit and stood up to him and for himself and Pat admired that in him. Everyone needed him to do things for them because he did it fast, he did it the best and he did it with a smile on his face. I could never work as hard as he worked, day after day, week after week. I would've burned out a long time ago. But not Javier. He was passionate and dedicated about his work. He always gave it all he had and then some. If it needed to be done, he did it. No excuses.
He missed his family. He called his mother and sister, Patti often. He kept in touch with all of them. When Patti was "announced" to the family (she was sort of not introduced to her siblings because she was born from a different father after Javier's mom had divorced with his father. For some reason, women aren't supposed to find a new husband after a divorce)he welcomed her with open arms when some of his other siblings were hesitant. He adored his mother and whenever possible, would send her money, no matter how tight things were with him. He always wanted to go to see them and even when he couldn't afford it, he would visit anyway. He even drove there once because he couldn't afford the air ticket.
A common ritual of Javier's was to make popcorn and dribble salsa (Tapatio sauce) all over it and sit down and eat it with a beer (& salt & lime, of course) while watching a great action movie. The speakers had to be turned up high and the sound loud or he couldn't fully enjoy the movie. He had to watch it his way. That was why he preferred watching movies in the comfort of his own home rather than the theater.
Another ritual was to buy the "Menudo" which I believe is intestine soup. The Mexican restaurant/store in Des Plaines would only make it on the weekends and Javier would pick up a cup on Saturday and Sunday and have that for lunch usually on Sundays. Didn't like the smell of that one. No thanks!
Javier took great pride in doing his laundry. He would fold his clothes in the perfect way and sometimes even iron his jeans! He never liked the way I folded and I never folded good enough so he would just do his own laundry.
Javier was a great cook. Some of the best things he made included:
Fried pork "fajitas" with salt and seasoning and fried potatoes (this was one of the first meals I remember him making for me and by far the best)
Arecherra meat (thin steak) with seasoning, salt and beer or orange juice, grilled. The accompaniment would be tri-color rotini pasta with mayo, sour creme, ham, celery and corn and sometimes little chunks of chihuahua cheese. yum yum. That was the best summer BBQ food I have ever and will ever have.
Egg omelete with fried onions and tomatoes
Taquitoes--potato tacos. Boiled potatoes and then mashed with salt. Heated corn tortillas and then put a little mashed potato in there and fry it up. Fresh of the stove, fill the taco with cilantro, chihuahua cheese, tomatoes, onions (if you like them, I don't) and avocado. My mouth is watering.
Javier's version of the shrimp cocktail was cubed shrimp and avocado in V8 juice served with saltine crackers.
The corn he would buy in the Mexican store where they make corn on the cob and put it on a stick. They smear mayonaise on it and sprinkle it with fresh cheese (queso fresco) and add a dash of spicy red spice. I forget what it is called but Kevin likes it a lot. I would often just get it with the corn and a little bit of the mayo and cheese.
Funny, he never made beef tacos. I never saw him eat them at a restaurant either. Must be an American thing.
Favorite Restaurants
Red Lobster
Texan BBQ-Algonquin
Buena Vista Restaurant-Algonquin for their fresh oysters (eaten with a dash of Tapatio, a squeeze of lime juice and a sprinkle of salt) swallowed whole
He would get the carne asada (steak) from El Burrito restaurant and get something like a soup for Isabel. She loved the chicken soup and he would always bring it over for awhile. If he didn't bring it over, Isabel would always ask, "Daddy, soup?" or if I told her Daddy was coming to visit, she would ask if he was bringing soup. Anyway, he would be eating his steak and would always leave a small portion of it left over. He would say, I always leave a little for my baby. It's good meat and she'll like it. He'd always think of her.
Things Javier didn't like:
The jeans that taper to your ankle.
That I didn't use Fabric softener on Isabel's clothes. I will now. I like the smell, it smells like him.
People touching his hair. Part of the reason was that he used gel and after it's dry, if you play with it, it will flake and turn all white. It was really easy to see the whiteness with his black hair.
Weird stuff he liked:
He liked me pampering his feet, like cutting his toe nails and putting lotion on his feet or giving his feet a massage. I think because he was on his feet all day it felt pretty nice to have someone tend to your feet. And he always had the worst condition of his feet. The skin was crackly and his nails were hard and yellowish. I guess it was a fungus and the doctors never gave us anything that really worked. It didn't bother him but it looked ugly and made his nails almost too thick to trim. (Sorry this was a gross story but I don't want to hold anything back)
He took pride in how he looked. Sometimes it would take him longer to get ready than me.
He took great care in his truck, the Ford Expedition. He made custom carpets from the highest quality carpet at his work, Mayfair Carpet & Furniture store. He would get a car wash once a week. And there was always something he was working on for his truck.
He was a hard worker. I once did inventory around Christmas time at Mayfair and got to see Javier working first hand. He gave 150% all through the day. He never stopped. People were calling him from everywhere, the sales girls on the floor, a new truck delivering 50 sofas, the warehouse to rearrange things or find things. He was the only person who knew where everything was. He would fix things his boss, Pat Murphy couldn't. No one could get along with Pat because he was rough around the edges but Javier wouldn't let him give him any shit and stood up to him and for himself and Pat admired that in him. Everyone needed him to do things for them because he did it fast, he did it the best and he did it with a smile on his face. I could never work as hard as he worked, day after day, week after week. I would've burned out a long time ago. But not Javier. He was passionate and dedicated about his work. He always gave it all he had and then some. If it needed to be done, he did it. No excuses.
He missed his family. He called his mother and sister, Patti often. He kept in touch with all of them. When Patti was "announced" to the family (she was sort of not introduced to her siblings because she was born from a different father after Javier's mom had divorced with his father. For some reason, women aren't supposed to find a new husband after a divorce)he welcomed her with open arms when some of his other siblings were hesitant. He adored his mother and whenever possible, would send her money, no matter how tight things were with him. He always wanted to go to see them and even when he couldn't afford it, he would visit anyway. He even drove there once because he couldn't afford the air ticket.
A common ritual of Javier's was to make popcorn and dribble salsa (Tapatio sauce) all over it and sit down and eat it with a beer (& salt & lime, of course) while watching a great action movie. The speakers had to be turned up high and the sound loud or he couldn't fully enjoy the movie. He had to watch it his way. That was why he preferred watching movies in the comfort of his own home rather than the theater.
Another ritual was to buy the "Menudo" which I believe is intestine soup. The Mexican restaurant/store in Des Plaines would only make it on the weekends and Javier would pick up a cup on Saturday and Sunday and have that for lunch usually on Sundays. Didn't like the smell of that one. No thanks!
Javier took great pride in doing his laundry. He would fold his clothes in the perfect way and sometimes even iron his jeans! He never liked the way I folded and I never folded good enough so he would just do his own laundry.
Javier was a great cook. Some of the best things he made included:
Fried pork "fajitas" with salt and seasoning and fried potatoes (this was one of the first meals I remember him making for me and by far the best)
Arecherra meat (thin steak) with seasoning, salt and beer or orange juice, grilled. The accompaniment would be tri-color rotini pasta with mayo, sour creme, ham, celery and corn and sometimes little chunks of chihuahua cheese. yum yum. That was the best summer BBQ food I have ever and will ever have.
Egg omelete with fried onions and tomatoes
Taquitoes--potato tacos. Boiled potatoes and then mashed with salt. Heated corn tortillas and then put a little mashed potato in there and fry it up. Fresh of the stove, fill the taco with cilantro, chihuahua cheese, tomatoes, onions (if you like them, I don't) and avocado. My mouth is watering.
Javier's version of the shrimp cocktail was cubed shrimp and avocado in V8 juice served with saltine crackers.
The corn he would buy in the Mexican store where they make corn on the cob and put it on a stick. They smear mayonaise on it and sprinkle it with fresh cheese (queso fresco) and add a dash of spicy red spice. I forget what it is called but Kevin likes it a lot. I would often just get it with the corn and a little bit of the mayo and cheese.
Funny, he never made beef tacos. I never saw him eat them at a restaurant either. Must be an American thing.
Favorite Restaurants
Red Lobster
Texan BBQ-Algonquin
Buena Vista Restaurant-Algonquin for their fresh oysters (eaten with a dash of Tapatio, a squeeze of lime juice and a sprinkle of salt) swallowed whole
He would get the carne asada (steak) from El Burrito restaurant and get something like a soup for Isabel. She loved the chicken soup and he would always bring it over for awhile. If he didn't bring it over, Isabel would always ask, "Daddy, soup?" or if I told her Daddy was coming to visit, she would ask if he was bringing soup. Anyway, he would be eating his steak and would always leave a small portion of it left over. He would say, I always leave a little for my baby. It's good meat and she'll like it. He'd always think of her.
Things Javier didn't like:
The jeans that taper to your ankle.
That I didn't use Fabric softener on Isabel's clothes. I will now. I like the smell, it smells like him.
People touching his hair. Part of the reason was that he used gel and after it's dry, if you play with it, it will flake and turn all white. It was really easy to see the whiteness with his black hair.
Weird stuff he liked:
He liked me pampering his feet, like cutting his toe nails and putting lotion on his feet or giving his feet a massage. I think because he was on his feet all day it felt pretty nice to have someone tend to your feet. And he always had the worst condition of his feet. The skin was crackly and his nails were hard and yellowish. I guess it was a fungus and the doctors never gave us anything that really worked. It didn't bother him but it looked ugly and made his nails almost too thick to trim. (Sorry this was a gross story but I don't want to hold anything back)