Larry is part of the Woelfel clan. It is an amazing family, parents Linus and Rosemary, 89 this year, eight other brothers and sisters, and some of their families, brothers, sisters, cousins galore came to California for Jon and Kerri's wedding. Linus and Rosemary created a family that is most enviable. They should be very proud of how all their children turned out. Everyone of them have amazing, interesting, rich lives, that they bring together, with all their vast differences and experiences and lifestyles (in these uncertain, changing lifetimes), and a family is reborn.
They would so fit into Mexico. Family in Mexico is everything. Nothing gets in the way of family. We know a few large families here, who struggled, succeeded, survived, and they have these same family moments. They all show up for weddings, anniversaries, holidays, birthdays, just for fun days, and party down, just like the Woelfels. Larry's brothers and sisters are as diverse as you can get, and still have a good time at a party. They all bring their rich and interesting lives into ours briefly, and it is amazingly reassuring that you know you are loved by so many people. For us "out-laws", our self-dubbed support group, being in the middle of it can be overwhelming. The love is the glue though. Lots of love.
After almost 20 years, I am just as amazed as the first time. This world doesn't have enough truly good people, but I can say this about Larry's family. They are genuinely good people. And they get down. You have to train to party with them. Either they are slowing down or I am finally catching up to them, but it takes a lot of energy to keep up. They loved the wine country, the brew pubs, the camaraderie of daily changing configurations, (so you can catch up, cause it's harder when you travel in packs of 20), and of course being together. It was fun.
What's Mexican about Californians...
Our go-to friends Karen and Ed, cheerfully picked us up at Carol and Doug's, and chauffeured us to Santa Rosa. We shamelessly take advantage of them, because we never get enough time with them...they drive us so we can have intense catch-up time, and they give us such comfort, thank God for them! (PS why did we not take pictures of you guys)
Susan and Howard (friends from Santa Rosa) arranged a house for us behind theirs. This was a gift from the heavens. We profusely thank Howard and Susan for this house. We gave them Jon and Kerri when we moved to Mexico, as we couldn't loose them in our life.
Teresita, my dear friend/sister, from 16+ years ago, came into my life when she was a teacher with me (before someone unwisely let her go), arrived with her family, Will (husband), and four boys including Andre, Dante (God child), Julian, & Trevian. Because I am a co-madre with Teresita, it is a whole other level of relationship. Teresita teaches in Chico now. She and her family accompanied us to our home in Mexico (and that's a road trip to tell about), in a memorable experience for all of us. We have had truly bonding experiences, gorilla glue experiences. Her family cheerfully shared time with our friends Javier and Julia and their boys Diego and Mateo, because we all just wanted to be together. Not many of us have these friends. I miss them all a bunch, and still am the biggest baby when I have to say goodbye.
We had a chance to see other friends, briefly, and said we would be back...or get your asses down to Mexico, it's not that hard, and "livin' is easy". We said good-byes, and Karen and Ed came and got us and we went back to Oakland. I had an attack of vertigo, and wanted to delay out by a couple of days, and really hang with Karen and Ed more, because we didn't have enough time with them. Mexicana goes bankrupt. No extra days, we had to go out the following night, or chance being cancelled... We all agreed to meet up in Mexico City next year. We find ways.
So when you go home, it is about the family and friends, a characteristic shared by Mexicans. Often during this time it didn't occur to me whether I was in Mexico or the United States (although the cold was a big clue), I felt comfortable in both places, it's not so different as you would think.
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