Back in the Day

It was the year 2012. Late December was somewhat colder that year in Mexico City, D.F., in comparison to past years. The problem with the experiencing the cold in Mexico is that they do not believe in central heating units, such freaking communists. To stay warm in Mexico City, D.F., one must acquire abundant amounts of electric blankets and warm family members huddled together.

Despite the frostbiting weather, December in Mexico City, D.F., is one of the most wonderful times of the year, especially when you share moments of uncontrollable laughter with loved ones that you see only so often. Being that my parents were the only ones to leave the “motherland”, all of my family lived in Mexico, so going down there to visit family was always quite an experience. One of these unforgettable experiences was during dinnertime when my grandmother was making her world-renown “Sopa de Tortilla.”

My grandmother is known throughout the land for her famous concoction (just among her friends in Mexico). It was one of those recipes that she had in her “top-secret” recipe book that she kept hidden somewhere in the kitchen. We always enjoyed helping her prepare it. Well actually it was more like we enjoyed trying to help. We were more of a nuisance and disturbance than anything. My grandmother would often times tell us to scram. I honestly just wanted to be the “taster.” That is honestly the best position, in my opinion, out the there.

On this late December, my grandmother had called the whole family in for lunch because she had finished created this ambrosia. All of us piled in trying to be the first in line for her soup. We all received equal amounts (I actually poured a little extra in mine) of the soup. We all proceeded to sit and mingle. During the conversation, my brother was choking a bit on the soup. It was the usual “went down the wrong pipe” kind of scenario. My cousin and I responded immediately with “Gosh Robert stop choking all the time.” We then proceeded to laugh. My grandmother responded to our laughter with, “Don’t worry Robert, I use to choke all the time back in the day.” Did I hear what she said right? She choked all the time back in the day? The whole kitchen erupted in laughter! We could not believe what she had just said. My mother literally peed herself with laughter. Even my grandmother was laughing uncontrollably. My grandmother tried to clarify what she had said, but the damage was already done. We all knew that she was referring to choking on food when she would cook; however the sexual innuendo that was present made all of us just die of uncontrollable laughter.

One can blame benign violation or even superiority theory for the uncontrollable laughter. Whatever it was, it was hilarious. My grandmother Now every Christmas from then on, we refer to that day with sudden references to it during our conversations. You can bet your butt we are going to bring it up again this Christmas.