The two best men.

Abuelito is my mom's father. I cried A LOT as a baby (so sorry mom). The first time I met Abuelito I demanded to be held by him and never wanted to be with anyone else. I felt instantly and endlessly charmed by him.

Maybe babies are an excellent judge of character? He's the finest sort of person...Was it the alignment of the stars? Abuelito and I are both water signs...My mom says everyone witnessing my adoration of Abuelito was puzzled. He was known as very strict (he made his kids eat their oranges and bananas with a knife and fork), intimidating (there was no messing with him or his family), and at the time didn't have much interest in babies (at least not like the gushing womenfolk). Whatever.

Abuelito had a rough childhood. His mother was an Araucana Native South American (I wish I knew more about her!) His father had some addiction problems and was around enough to have 7 children but not around to take care of them. Abuelito as a child living in La Boca, Buenos Aires, had to step up to the plate. He wasn't able to attend school after the age of 10 but worked many jobs to keep his family afloat.

Abuelito died in his sleep in 2001. He was 91 years old and still going strong (running circles around everyone).

This is Grandpa Buchanan, the dearest man. He was always looking out for me.

Once I found him in my bedroom at 315 East Center having switched all of my furniture around. He was so upset to see me. He had ordered me a new Serta mattress and it was supposed to have been delivered hours earlier. He wanted to switch out my bed without me knowing who'd done it. What a sweetheart!! Well, he noticed I had blood dribbling down my face. I had just walked home from getting my molars pulled and was so drugged up I couldn't feel a thing. We waited for the mattress delivery people and then he took me home to feed me liquids and stay at his place until my mouth was back to normal.

The second to last time I saw Grandpa was at UVRMC at about 6 am, October 1997. I snuck into his room to hang out for a couple of hours before school. His breathing was alarmingly labored. He insisted that I leave. When I next saw him he was in a coma. He died of pneumonia.

If I ever die (Generation X is immortal, right?) then Abuelito and Grandpa are two of the three people I want to see first.