Mmmmm . . .

I sure do love Mexican food. Real Mexican food. In particular, homemade Mexican food. I have no problem eating it on a regular basis - that is, if I had it readily available on a regular basis. In fact, authentic Mexican food is what I craved when I was pregnant with Olivia - especially authentic tamales, fresh guacamole, my grandmother's tacos.

Today I had the treat of walking into my mother's house and smelling homemade Mexican food - Spanish rice, enchiladas, homemade red sauce. It's making my mouth water just smelling this cooking food's deliciousness wafting all through the house.

See, my mother hired a wonderful lady, Candi, from El Paso, TX. Candi came up to my parents' house to take care of my ailing grandmother since she's here now, permanently. My grandmother has Alzheimer's and my mom is her legal guardian; it's much easier for my mom to care for her when she's not hundreds of miles away in Texas, so she's here in Iowa. Plus, she gets top notch medical care.

Anyway, Candi's here and she is making these enchiladas and Spanish rice. It smells SO good, and I'm sure it will be equally tasty.

And since I love Mexican food so much, it will be a treat to eat a homemade meal.

The only thing better than walking into my mother's house when it smells like Mexican food, is walking into my grandmother's house (her former house in El Paso where she lived for so many years with my grandfather) when she was cooking something, such as her homemade tacos, the very ones I craved when I was pregnant.

Yes, the smell of homemade Mexican food takes me back to El Paso and Mountain Walk Drive, where my grandparents lived for so long. Not only does it make me really hungry, it makes me feel that all too familiar feeling of saudade, remembering all the wonderful (and occasionally not-so-wonderful) times in that home, and knowing that it will never be that way again. Except in memories, and those of us storytellers, who keep the memories alive.