Angelita Arellano was a widow at 63, but she would never be alone. Grandchildren begat great-grandchildren begat great-great grandchildren, and she cooked for us into her 90s.
Although the two frequently went back to Jomulquillo, the United States would be home.She worked as a seamstress, a babysitter, and a caretaker for elderly neighbors as her children bought homes, and had children of their own. My Tía Nacha and her husband, Cuco, converted the garage for their East L.A. home off Whittier Boulevard into a mini-home for my grandparents and built a patio to accommodate the growing Arellano clan that stopped by almost daily.
In the 1990s, Angelita Arellano became an American citizen. I still remember how proud all of us were, and delighted in the confession she told us: That the person who administered her citizenship test said they would let her cheat on account of her age and her limited English. Grandma refused, saying she had studied too much to all of a sudden get a pity pass.
, where she was a faithful parishioner for decades, and afterward held a huge bash in Uptown Whittier complete with mariachi and banda and a photo of our Pepe next to the guest sign-in book. Soon after, a cousin found out that all centenarians in Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis’ district were entitled to a hand-painted scroll commending their 100th birthday.
She still found out about two hours before the fiesta started, and received a hero’s welcome as a car pulled into the parking lot and cousins helped her into a wheelchair, looking as regal as ever as the tamborazo blared.
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