This past weekend I packed my bags for Texas. My degree project (thesis) was due on Friday when I would be flying, so I stayed up until 4:30 in the morning, emailed it to my advisor, got an hour of sleep, and woke up to get going. Of course the absence of a working sink or tub in our bathroom made the process of getting out the door a little longer (bathing out of a bucket is no fun) so I was running a bit late when Aaron took me to the airport.
I had a long layover in San Fran, where I was able to grab lunch with Rebekah and her daughter Sara Ellen, who just recently moved to the west coast. Rebekah treated me to my first In-and-Out experience (good, but not monumental) and we had fun catching up as we watched planes fly over the water onto the airport’s runway. Next I flew into San Antonio and met my mom who had flown in a couple hours earlier. Though the entire purpose of our trip was to see my brother’s family in Corpus Christi, it was a lot cheaper to fly into San Antonio, so we took some time to enjoy the river walk and take a tour of the Alamo. It turns out the Alamo is just a simple old building. My mom and I laughed and asked each other: Well, what were you expecting?
The next morning we drove to Corpus Christi (about 2.5 hours) where we met my brother Hanns for lunch. Seeing him was the absolute highlight of my trip. Due to a series of circumstances and the general difficulties of life, it had been over 15 years since I last saw my brother. I didn’t even have a mental image of what he looked like or his mannerisms. Thankfully we’ve caught up on the phone on and off for the past ten years, so we are up to date on each other’s lives and interests. It was great to see each other in person and discuss family history over Mexican food.
After lunch we met up with my niece Coretta, her mom Rhonda, and Rhonda’s husband David. I also hadn’t seen Rhonda in 15 years and it was my first time meeting David. They were both incredibly hospitable. They gave us a full tour of Corpus Christi (which is actually quite beautiful; nothing like Houston or Dallas) including the Selena memorial, and the birds and sea turtles on the shore. Afterwards we picked up my nephew Curtis (a Junior at UT Austin) and we all went out for an amazing seafood dinner. I ate oysters and actually really liked them (more so with saltines and cocktail sauce). We sat at our table by the water, watching the sunset and even some dolphins that swam by. It was a beautiful night.
Sunday my mom and I spent the whole day with Hanns, driving around Corpus Christi and checking out the sights. The original plan was to tour the island near the city, but somehow the trip became a birdwatching quest. We drove from dump to water treatment plant to puddle looking for one particular bird or another until my mom had gotten her fill. While birdwatching is not exactly my (or Hanns’s) idea of a good time, it did fill up the day and gave us opportunities to chat and catch up.
After a long day of birdwatching we grabbed dinner and headed to Coretta’s high school graduation, which was typical except for the exceptionally awkward salutatorian speech. We sat through 300+ names, cheered like crazy for Coretta, and grabbed all the necessary post graduation photos. And then suddenly, it was time to go.
Though it was a short weekend, it was a very important visit for me. Hanns and I promised that we would see each other before another 15 years pass by, and we both agreed that we had some more background research to do on our family and my dad’s past. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to see him and reconnect. Redemption and reconciliation are so sweet.
