My Tata would attend church with his family as a boy on Sundays, The church was a Spanish-speaking mass, and my grandpa, who only knows English, would not understand what was being preached, but he had to go anyway. While he didn’t speak a lick of Spanish, he was still able to communicate with his Spanish-speaking family through gestures. After church, they would all go over to my great-great grandpa’s house for brunch. My Tata’s favorite part of this lunch would be the sweet bread that his Tata, Guillermo, would make. Guillermo was endearing to him and the rest of his massive family, and every Sunday he would have a gathering at his home. These gatherings were indicative of the impression Guillermo Medina made on the United States, moving from Mexico to pick crops, making a living out of it, and living the textbook definition of the American Dream by opening his own store later on in his life. This sweet bread was the fruit of Guillermo’s labor, and it fed his massive family even after he was retired. While most of Guillermo’s legacy and heritage has been lost throughout the generations, finally ending with me, I still feel a connection to these kinds of gatherings, and we as the Medina family make sure to have pan dulce every year on New Year’s, for ol’ tradition’s sake. 

– Tanner Medina

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more