Once, I don�t even remember how old I was this whole memory is foggy and only the central event is formed in crystal clarity in my mind.

Dida, Grandma Brunie�s closest friend, as far as I ever knew, was old and failing. She didn�t have her neighbor�s, my grandparents, vigor in later years. All I remember is they hadn�t seen each other in ages, years, and they were hugging and kissing on each other and crying. Ruby and Dida were completely lost in their emotions. They were whaling at the site of each other. It was the most exuberant display of friendly love that I have ever seen. It was then that I realized how deeply friendships can take root within you. They experienced such joy at seeing each other again. They held each others hands as they talked, both hands.

They loved each other.

Those are the kind of friends that I have.

I Love my Grandma Brunie. She is an amazing woman. Amazing. Grandpa Brunie built roads. Amazing roads. Perfect roads. In fact his roads were so good that NASA hired him to build the roads under The Very Large Array radio telescopes. You know, the ones that were in the movie and book, Contact, by Carl Sagan? Well all this road building meant that my Mom�s family moved a lot. Like a dozen times a year. In fact family stories often start with, �Now this was when we were living in _____.� One day, when the kids were older and living in El Paso while grandpa built roads, Grandma Brunie finally had enough. This was the early 50�s mind you, but anyway, one day she went out and bought a house. She didn�t want to move anymore. So, like I said, she bought the house unbeknownst to my grandfather and left him a note on the door for him to find that evening when he got home from building roads.

The note to Papa simply read, �Dear Albert, we now live at 120 Pasadell lane.�

That is the kind of woman I am descended from. That is how my mother�s family came to settle in El Paso. And I suppose, how I came to be born in my beloved Nuevo Mexico.