Solidarity

When I was a little girl growing up in El Paso, hardly a week went by that I didn't spend time with my Gonzalez cousins. Sometimes they would come over and spend the night at my house, but it was so much more fun when my sister Ginger and I spent the weekend at their house. The happiest and best times of my childhood were the weekends I spent with Leslie, Leah, Lisa, Lori and Lynne under the watchful and loving eyes of their mom, my Aunti Frankie.

The hardest thing about moving away from El Paso when I was 11 years old was leaving my cousins. The best summer I ever had was when Ginger, Stef and I flew by ourselves from Indiana back to Texas to spend 6 weeks with my cousins. These girls were more than cousins to me - they were best friends and sisters. We have remained close over the years and eventually I moved back to El Paso after Ron and I got married and graduated from college.

During the 10 years that I lived in El Paso as an adult, my cousins and I shared many important events in our lives including weddings and the births of our children. Once again, we went to Aunti Frankie and Uncle Roger's house on the weekends where everyone would gather for a big meal and family fun. A new job for Ron took us to Arizona in 1994, but we went to back to Texas often to visit. At the end of 2000, we moved to California. Even though the Beeson Family kept moving west, my cousins have remained very important to me and my family.

It shouldn't have been such a surprise to me to see what 3 of these Gonzalez Girls did to show me their love and support after my recent health crisis. Ron and I flew to Texas this past weekend to have our eyes checked and to visit with the family. On  Friday night, Leah, Lisa and Lynne showed up sporting SHORT haircuts and each of them had a different color in their hair...

My beautiful cousins R to L - Lynne, Leah and Lisa

I feel incredibly loved and supported and will never forget this amazing gesture of strength and solidarity. I love you, too, Cousins!