Preparation involves a trip to the past

Preparing for the support group meeting on Saturday has got me thinking about the journey that led us to where we are today.  It helps me to put thoughts and ideas in writing, so I’ll invite you along on this trip down memory lane.  My story begins with some old journal pages I found this evening which talk about events at McDonalds that I don’t even remember.  It’s interesting to read what I had written 10 years ago.  I realize now just how naïve I was at 16 when I thought I knew everything.

The Mexican crew at McDonalds was essentially composed of two families: the Mendez family and the Bahena family.  From the beginning I gravitated towards the Mendez family, particularly two sisters named Rosa and Yesica.  I was comfortable with them, as they made a sincere effort to teach me Spanish.  During the summer of my first year at McDonalds I started to work the closing shift which gave me more time to immerse myself in the language.  The cultural differences often caught me off guard during this period of time.  For example the Mendez women had a habit of grabbing my hand or arm whenever they walked by me.  I eventually got used to their concept of personal space, but it definitely took a while.

One day that stands out in my mind was that day in August of 2001 when I first saw Alberto.  It was before his first day of work at McDonalds and he was standing in the break room with Rosa while she explained to him about the schedule posted on the corkboard.  When he looked over as I entered the room, I was astonished at my reaction.  Rather than stand right where I had stopped like a complete idiot, I greeted Rosa and escaped into the changing room which was really just a glorified closet with a door that locked.  I felt like I had had the wind knocked out of me.  Who in the world reacts to some guy like that without knowing the first thing about him?  Luckily they left the break room before I came out the changing room so I had a minute to get a grip on myself.  I made it through the shift without making it too obvious that I was watching the new guy and through some investigations I learned that his name was Alberto Mendez and that he was the brother of Rosa and Yesica.

Months passed and the powers that be decided to give me more time in the grill area to hone my burger making skills since you know, it’s so difficult to get the ketchup on the bun and not on your coworkers head.  What was embarrassing about this situation was that I would turn bright red every time Alberto looked at me or even got too close to me.  Lizzy, who had already been working at McDonalds when I started, noticed this development and asked me about it.  Or maybe I asked Lizzy to help me, who can remember after all this time?  In the beginning of December I finally got up the nerve to write a note to Alberto to tell him that I liked him. I asked Lizzy to translate and deliver it the note for me.  For a few hours after I had given the note to her, my trademarked red face was brighter than normal.  Somehow, I ended up being sent on my lunch break with Alberto for company because the management was clueless.  We talked as much as two people can when they don’t speak a common language, and he asked for permission to kiss me.  And so in that break room within that McDonalds whose original building is no longer standing, began a relationship that would stand the tests of time, language, and bouts of stubbornness that even donkeys can’t compete with.