Tamales, Banana Leaves & Dreams
On the Sunday before her son’s marriage to our daughter, Margarita Perez leads a cooking crew to create 120 tamales -- the first of more than 600 that will be served to Jose and Annalyse’s wedding guests.
She even goes the extra mile to use wrappings of banana leaves -- donated by a friend of ours-- bowing respectively to my wife’s OCD running overdrive 24/7 now.
We sit down together to sample the authentic Mexican food, and my mouth experiences the taste equivalent of an orgasm. “Holy Moley,” I say, even though it’s not the first Holy that comes to mind.
Melanie and I thank them for all their hard work; she says they are only too happy to help.
“It makes us feel included in the wedding,” she says,”and we get to share a bit of our culture.”
And, yes, cooking for more than 200 people is difficult, but nothing compared to their family’s life story.
Seventeen years ago, following a series of dire events, seeking a better life, Margarita and her husband Rene were forced to make the terrifying journey from Mexico to the states. In addition to the despair of leaving behind three children to live with relatives, they feared for their lives.
On the journey, they heard about militia -- border vigilantes -- shooting people at crossings.
“Every step of the way it was scary,” Margarita says. “We didn’t know where we were going or what we were going to do,”
Following stays in Texas and Florida, they finally settled in North Carolina, finding enough odd jobs to rent a trailer in Etowah. Their children -- including Jose at the age of 6 -- then made their own perilous journeys to reunite with their parents a year after separation.
The making of tamales, in fact, serves as a history of both survival and celebration for the Perez family.
“Ever since we came to the states, we’ve made tamales for parties and special events like this wedding or for an extra source of income,” Margarita says.
“We know what it’s like to feel support, so making tamales is one way to do that for others. When I first made them, people would rub their bellies. I didn’t know if that was because they liked them or because it hurt their stomach.”
Attacking a second tamale, I rub my belly and reassure her of the real reason.
The food she makes for Jose’s wedding, though, isn’t Margarita’s most important gift to her son.
“We are so happy for Jose and Annalyse and we want that happiness to last,” she says. “God has allowed Rene and I to be together 33 years,” she says. “It’s an example for them -- a good way to know the love that exists between husband and wife.”