Beyond Grace and Beauty

The Herrera family lives in Austin, Texas and they are a family of 19 children. One passed away as a very young baby who wasn’t able to heal causing heartache in my Grandmother Ruby’s heart and soul, but her faith in God brought out the temporary dark times. So, it is a family of 19 instead of 20 children. My Grandfather Albert was a man who worked hard to provide as much as he could for his budding family. One can say my grandfather was a man of determination, savvy, and intelligence and he knew how to feed his family. It was a rough start for them. But they started to form unique and authentic moral servants who taught their children and grandchildren correcting or reinforcing their wrongs and celebrating their triumphs and accomplishments, but most importantly, the growing life experiences of righteousness. My grandfather worked in the food industry, and it was a good wage. He was always a strong man who remained in it and never showed his gentle nature. His favorite Alcoholic beverage was Jack’s and he had love for nice clothes.

My grandmother was a housewife since a large family needed keen eyes to pay attention to them. But my grandmother never had a vicious temper or even none at all. I say this because I’ve seen her upset but never angry. She was a devout Catholic carrying out duties as a servant to Jesus and God and had a strong faith in them which might have been tested, but she never fell. And if so, she had the determination and strength to press on in life. Her love for her children was unmeasurable and she touched all of them in their special way as all of them were ideal and unique individuals. My grandmother was determined, practical, sure about herself, respected by her family and the church., and intelligent in raising 19 young children. She found ingenious ways of saving money but also getting the things she needed for the family. Her emotional and intellectual resourcefulness aided her purpose of making her children appreciate the value of being with and in the cohesiveness of raising them with sound morals, high intelligence, and ambition since they started as monetary challenges. But today, all of them live nice and secure middle-class Americans working through blue- and white-collar jobs.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner consisted of rice, beans, zucchini, various forms of vegetables, and most importantly, my grandmother’s family's favorite homemade flour tortillas. They were so good that there was an Austin American Statesman article interviewing my grandmother’s love for her children, food, and most importantly, her faith in Jesus and God. But come Friday’s, everyone looked forward to that day as my grandfather would bring chicken and sandwich meat. My grandfather had a lot of time he had gone out of town for personal and business reasons, and this became my grandmother’s favorite time because the girls would take her out shopping.

There was always a fun-filled day daily with all the children since there was never a boring day. So, much laughter and playfulness filled the house. They found no reason to complain about having a 2 room house since they were more grateful and appreciative than most people would be since living on the streets was never an option nor an actual reality. It was tough fitting everyone in that small house on a busy street on the East Side of Austin. This area was known for its toughness and gang affiliations but my family never got involved in such behavior. However, everyone knew Herrera’s might and strength since they had no trouble in settling disputes.

The boys were a tough and calculated warrior type of crew but they also worked too just to serve and help the budding family. Also, when they were of age to work, they started to buy things they wanted and had the common sense to realize that to get the finer things in life then you had to work hard and be intelligent to reach personal goals. For example, my father started working at mechanic shop at the age of 14 doing any little jobs they had for him because he wanted nice things too. He’s 75 at this moment and is still working a 50-hour week. Practically everyone has retired except for him. I do know a couple of uncles doing the same thing too. My grandmother’s protector and guardian was my uncle Martin (Tepo) and made sure no one hurt his mother and he made everyone know that too.

The girls were respectable and beautiful women with high morals and values. They were the ones who would help my grandmother cooking for the family but also learned her recipes. But the are not soft either because they are tough and fearless just like the boys. For example, two of my aunts were mistreated by their first husband and divorced them during those times of religious judgment in the church. Some can say that they stood for something that is now the new norm for women and men. But when they were age of to work, they started to work because to help my grandparents and start their own life wishes and goals. They were never just satisfied for lower or middle-class Americans, but higher-class Americans nearly every girl reaching that goal. Also, they found husbands would love them for who they are and what they stand for yet the most important thing of not abusing them in any way. The boys are happy and accepting of them because they treat my aunts with love and understanding.