Long Life!
On Monday I was walking down the hall at work and I stopped to say buenos dias to my favorite Mexican lady, Elizarda. Last week I pushed Elizarda in her wheelchair to lunch. As soon as I had her parked at her table she pulled my face close to hers so she could tell me (in Spanish and then English), "They're coming for all of the Mexican women! They're rounding us up, and then they come to take us away!" Sure enough, three other Mexican women were seated at her table. When I asked her who was coming for them, she said, "Bah!" and told me to read about it in el periodico. Then she blessed me because if Elizarda is anything, she is Catholic. So on Monday, when I had greeted her, I was not surprised when she grabbed me by the hand. I expected another blessing and possibly a warning for the safety of the Mexican women. I was startled when she proclaimed in her shrill voice (in Spanish and then English), "Long Life!" She pulled my hand closer to her face, touching my palm with her other hand. "I don't see so good anymore," she muttered, "But you will have at least ochenta y nueve, how do you say 89 years! And you will be a big woman- how do you say- important! Con la gracia de Deos- with God's blessing, always." She was the perfect blend of superstition and Catholicism. I don't believe in palm reading, but the moment seemed significant in its spontenaety I hate to always make book comparisons, but it reminded me of Bless Me Ultima. I think the blend of native practices and Catholicism might be a dying tradition. A lifestyle supplanted by modern commercialism. I can't imagine Elizarda and her gray streaked black hair and shriveled face anywhere but her bed under a crucifix or her wheelchair in the bare halls.