By Abe Villarreal

My favorite memories of the holidays are listening to cuentos, stories told by dads and moms, uncles and aunts, and mostly by grandpas and grandmas.

Like the kid in a classic Norman Rockwell painting, I remember sitting with my legs crossed on the floor, hands holding up my head, and eyes wide open. Grandpa Abram told the best cuentos.

A World War II Seabee, he crossed dangerous, shark-filled waters. One time a ferocious lion chased him across a distant desert. He survived after climbing up a coconut tree.

Sure, these things probably didn’t happen, but for a moment all us grandkids thought they were true, and grandpa was bigger than a comic book superhero. He loved us, and we loved him, that part was real.

As you get older, driving home for the holidays on long stretches of highway give you plenty of time to think of your childhood past. The endless food, the smells of traditional Hispanic homes, and the beautiful flow of two languages, crossing each other and sometimes forming new terms. They are all precious memories.

This holiday season, I want to start something new. I regularly hear complaints of people wishing things were just like they used to be. The truth is that they can be, but we have the responsibility to carry on the values and traditions we cherish.

We can’t get together at grandma's house anymore, but we can provide a place for the new generation. When I started to work on my family tree on Ancestry.com a couple of years ago, I didn’t know what to expect. What I found out has been life changing.

I started my genealogical journey to find out who I really was, beyond the stories and myths, and what I have found has been fascinating. It’s worthy enough to pass on to a new generation that will hopefully carry it on to each generation thereafter.

So this holiday season, I’ll be asking each kid to enter his name into the tree and to see the picture and name of one of their great, great, grandparents. I’ll tell them how I imagine he or she lived, a long time ago, in a Mexican pueblo hundreds of miles away.

Facts aren’t as exciting as tales and anecdotes, the kind filled with good guys, bad guys, and adventurous chases through exotic lands. No matter what my real family tree tells me, nothing will take away the picture I have of my ancestors. The picture painted through cuentos, told to us kids on warm winter nights.

I miss my grandparents, and a big reason was that they cared enough for us to tell us these stories. You see, storytelling is an act of love. Verbal messages of hope and sadness. Cuentos have happy endings and moral lessons. They teach us and give us feelings of wonder.

During these holidays, in 2017, take your kids back to a distant time. A place where fantasy is alive and a little bit of magic seems present. When they grow old and look back on today, many details will be forgotten. Yet they will always remember the way they felt listening to your cuentos.

Happy Holidays.

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.