Making Memories

Behind The Scenes

The holidays in my household are much calmer than what's shown in the movies. It usually consists of both of my parents, my little brother and I and even my dog. Each year we come together and remember everything that we are thankful for and enjoy a delicious dinner cooked by my mom. I recently found out I really don't know much about my parents childhood, especially my moms. My dad is much more open about his life and how he grew up, but my mom seems to shut it off. So this process actually helped me become closer to her than before. Basically, the goal of this was to get to know my parents more and listen to stories of how they celebrated the holidays.

Miguel (left) and Rocio (right) celebrate the 2013 holidays.

When I asked my mom if I could interview her, she seemed hesitant at first, but then agreed.  The beginning of the interview was a tad tense, but as went deeper into the questions, the more she started to loosen up and reveal more details about her childhood that I had personally never heard. It was almost like this curtain was lifted.

When I approached my dad, he was in the middle of watching a soccer game, so he also seemed hesitant to answer a few questions. Same thing, at the beginning of the interview he was short and was taking long pauses, but the more we got into it the more he started to loosen up. His personality shined through more and more.

There is one question during the interview that I asked them both that said:

    How are the holidays different in Mexico than in the United States?

It's really interesting how much they differ. For example, in Mexico they have bonfires and they go around to each house in the neighborhood and sing about the birth of baby Jesus. Whereas here in the U.S we keep it to the privacy of our own homes. We still throw parties, but they're kept inside.

In the end I learned a lot from my parents and wish them the best in the long run.


How do you celebrate the holidays?