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TEXAS TRIAL LAWYERS REVIEW
NOVEMBER 2018
SAN ANTONIO | AUSTIN | EDINBURG | HOUSTON | LAREDO | DALLAS | EL PASO | CORPUS CHRISTI
Time and Tradition How Things Have Changed Over the Years
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I’m sure many of our readers are preparing to travel far and wide to feast with loved ones. I wish you safe travels and a very happy holiday. As for my family and me, we’ll be hitting the road for Austin or Port Lavaca, much like the Thanksgivings of my childhood. I was born in Port Lavaca many moons ago, the town my great-grandparents Alejandro and Jesusita (after immigrating from Monterrey, Mexico) and grandparents Jesus and Maria Del Carmen called home for many years. For as long as I can remember, every Thanksgiving, we’d make the drive from wherever we lived at the time through the holiday traffic to see them. My aunts, uncles, and cousins would all congregate in our grandparents’ home on Algee Street, then in Brookhollow, to eat our fill of stuffing and turkey before playing yard or street football and, of course, watching the Dallas Cowboys. On a few occasions, I even got to open presents. You see, I was born on the 24th of this month, so my birthday has always had to compete with Thanksgiving. It’s a blessing and a curse. Some people find it easy to remember my birthday because of the proximity to the holiday. Others forget, as they understandably have a lot on their minds when getting ready for the big feast of tryptophan. Funnily enough, my wife, Roxanna, was born on the exact same day of the year as me, so we’ve never had a problem remembering each other’s birthdays.
great-grandparents are long gone, and my paternal grandparents are no longer with us, but I’ll always have the memories of those Thanksgivings. They’re easy to recall as I make the familiar drive to Port Lavaca to visit my family for the holiday. My sister lives in Austin now, so sometimes we trade off her coming down here, or we travel up there. My brother is living in Japan, so he won’t be celebrating with us this year. He’s even talking about staying on another year after his contract is over. All things change with time — even traditions — and that’s okay. It just emphasizes the importance of enjoying what you have now and the loved ones you get to spend time with. That’s what Thanksgiving is all about, after all: gratitude and reflection. And I have a lot to be grateful for this Thanksgiving: my family, our health, the fact that my parents live so near, and the time that I get to spend with them. And, of course, there’s the warmth of South Texas and the people that call it home. I’m so thankful I get to live and work in this state and enjoy the camaraderie I share with my clients. To those I’ve represented, thank you for putting your faith in me and my firm. We work hard to make sure we are always worthy of your trust.
relatives used to walk down San Antonio Street and even rode to school together. It’s crazy to think about the fact that, well before we met, we were celebrating both Thanksgiving and our birthdays in the same seaside town. Of course, as time passed, it became more and more difficult for my family to make it back to Lavaca for the holidays. As I mentioned last month, my father attended law school in Chicago and eventually took a job in Saudi Arabia. During those years we spent away from Texas, it was difficult to see extended family. Heck, in the Middle East it was difficult to even find the regular fixings for what you’d consider a Thanksgiving meal. I definitely missed my grandmother’s yams during those years away. Then, even after moving back to Texas, things were different, especially throughout the years. Families had grown, cousins had gone off to college, relatives had sadly passed away — such is life. My
Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving,
Alex R. Hernandez Jr.
I share even more coincidences with my wife. Believe it or not, she was raised in Port Lavaca too. Our
All things change with time — even traditions — and that’s okay. It just emphasizes the importance of enjoying what you have now and the loved ones you get to spend time with.
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