Family trip to Hereford and Friona, Texas

We received a call from Lupe's parents that one of his great Aunts, one of the women that raised his mother, was very sick and had been moved to hospice care.  After discussing for a moment, we decided to make the trip to Hereford, what is his parent's hometown in the panhandle of Texas. We went to be part of the family gathering for Tia Maria.

Hereford is named for cattle.  According to Wikipedia, Hereford IS the Beef Capital of the World! There are literally thousands of cattle in stockyards, or cattle yards, being 'beefed' up before slaughter. A combination of molasses, hay, milo, and wheat are fed to the cattle as they are kept in small fenced areas so they won't expend much energy.   All roads leading into Hereford have these cattle yards, according to a family member.  So, Hereford smells like cow poop, all the time and everywhere.  You can escape it. That's Hereford.

Family time was wonderful and I (Bert) got to meet many new cousins, another Great Aunt, and other members of Lupe's family.  A highlight of the evening at Tia Maria's home was the Mariachis.  They played for an hour in her living room where she was bundled up in her bed resting, surrounded by the people that loved her the most in the world.  It was a touching and inspiring time with family, experiencing together how life can be celebrated in a joyful, musical way.

During our 3 days there we did get to visit other places in the area.  One was a trip out to see the farm Lupe's father worked on for many years, called the family farm.  The trip wound up being a wild goose chase, venturing around and through many farms that looked that same and like the family farm, and a cell tower, none of which help find the actual 'family farm' :)

So, we moved on to another city trip to visit 'El Campo' in Hereford and to see the Church were Lupe's mother went to school. El Campo is like the La Calonias in South Texas, a place where many Mexican families first move when they arrive in the US.

Our last trip was to visit the grave sites of two of Lupe's family members.  In Friona, his father's father and brother are buried.  We visited those graves, tracking them down using the cemetery's  (very useful) plot map.

Lupe has decided to raise funds with a gofundme to get gravestones put in place for both of these men. We left flowers on the graves.

It was a wonderful trip, even though the reason was not what we would have chosen, to see where Lupe's family spent many years, meet new family and spend special time together celebrating Tia Maria's life. Here's a link to the photo album.