Family Tradition

"Hank, why do ya drink, hey,  why do you all smoke?"

Always liked that song. Liked the irreverent yet accepting tone of it. I understand it is a country song that some use as their personal drinking anthem. Not me, though. It is the words,

Family Tradition.

I'm involved in a family tradition that goes back 61 years and guess what, I took to it like a fish in the water. Almost ten years ago I thought it would be a great idea to be my own boss and at the same time be in the family business.

It seemed like it would be everything I could wish for. My advice, be real careful in what you wish for!

My father failed to tell me just how hard it would be. I think he kind of got tickled some times, watching me struggle. Almost like a senior does with the freshman class. A bit of family tradition hazing! But like the stubborn and prideful woman I am, I refused to give in and let him see me cry. At just about every juncture to this day; when the the tough gets going, I will sit down here in the shop, look at my grandfather's photo on the wall and say "Grandpa, please let me be good enough, please. I know I'm not half the woman my mother is, not a quarter of the woman your wife, my grandmother is, but please don't let me fail." "I don't want to give up." Please Grandpa, Please!"

TIme and time again, I have watched my neighbors businesses close, watched them get divorced, watch the bankruptcies, see them get sick and tired of it all. I also see the new fresh crop of hopeful entepreneurs come in with their swagger, their bluster. They are going to conquer the world. Watch out world! Here comes the new Donald Trump, the new Bill Gates, the new Ross Perot. The latest and greatest.....

Was I like that once upon a time? When did I manage to turn into a war hardened , grizzled old veteran? I wear my wounds with pride though, the gashes in my heart, my glaring mistakes, my one stubborn gray hair (circa 2005) my aching back.

But what I carry with me in my heart, in my head is even better. It is you. My beautiful customers, the wonderful people who find their way to my little "tamale hole"  You always lift me up when I start to wonder, is it really worth alI this?

Because I have watched you move into town, move out, have children, lose children, cancer, graduations, births, baptisms, weddings, divorces, rehab, job loss, suicides, murder. (Yes, I do have a current customer who spent 30 years in the pen for killing a man who hit his father) He likes our flour tortillas! I give him my day old ones for a dollar a pack, since he has no income and lives with his mother. I have been through a lot with you all. 

As Mastercard says ~ "Priceless". 

I am like a thread woven into the fabric of your daily life. Just one small thread, but still there.

Yeah we all like the latest and greatest, the shiny, the new but we all still need that  "Family Tradition".