A short story about my father, Ramiro Aguilar Cuevas, a Chatino/Zapotec immigrant and his pursuit of knowledge, teaching, and purpose. The youngest son of the Aguilar Cuevas family, Ramiro’s story reminds us of perseverance and finding home in two worlds. Without any former schooling, Ramiro became a self-taught alarm technician learning through countless books and trainings. A sought out mentor in his organization with over thirty-five years of experience, Ramiro centers the lessons of his father and elders to teach, mentor and train others as the years have passed. A loving son, brother, father, husband and now abuelito, Ramiro teaches us about "Guelaguetza" — the Zapotec praxis of reciprocity.
"It was a dewy Sunday morning at my parent’s house in Menifee, CA, as I prepared for a plática with my pa, Ramiro. The sun was rising and rays of light made their way into the backyard patio as my father and I took our cafecito outside to enjoy. We sat on two wicker patio chairs that overlooked the backyard and placed our mugs on the small coffee table in front of us.
I took a second to look at my father, he was the same man I've always remembered —beautiful deep brown skin, black hair parted to the side, sprinkled with greys he’s acquired over the years. He was wearing his favorite glasses that accentuate his brown eyes, the same eyes that many tell me I inherited from him. The running line in our family is that my father reminds us of an aging Fernando Colunga (a popular 90’s telenovela star). We spend some time chatting about the week, how my doctoral coursework is coming along, and getting caught up on how him and my mami, Rosa, were settling into their new home. They made a life-changing decision to move closer to their grandchildren (my nephews and niece) after living in our childhood home for over thirty years in the high deserts of California.
As we conversed, I could hear the house coming to life through the window behind me — my mami starting breakfast on the comal, my older brother and little sister giggling with eachother, and Pocoyo, my mami’s tiny parrot, beginning their morning songs…"
Coming soon.
Where the Healing Happens
Navigating Tovaangar (the Los Angeles basin), the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples. To learn about the Indigenous peoples whose land upon which you reside, visit native-land.ca.
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