¡Adelante!

On a whim, I drove out of town at dusk to a trailer park with an apple and a pumpkin pie in tow. Against my better judgment, I abandoned my messy room and laundry with hopes I couldn't speak.

The moment I knocked on the door I was welcomed. ¡Adelante! Greetings wafted toward me from right and left. In the one room that is both kitchen and living room, an odd twenty people sat, stood, ate, spoke, laughed, and listened. But they didn't feel crowded, and neither did I.

Any outsider would have been confused about why so many gringos were squished into the Spanish-speaking crowd lining the couches, additional folding chairs, and the dining room tables. But only friends were present, friends of varied life backgrounds and languages; even the strangers were welcomed friends, all were willing to welcome more. ¡Adelante!

Languages and smells meshed in a God-pleasing aroma of cultures combining. English and Espanol. Tamales and pumpkin pie.

Un momento passed as my dearest friends asked about myself and my family. I was fed, laughed with, and told about the new house plant in a combined effort of Spanglish. Conversations ebbed and flowed as I caught up with dear friends, joy a welling-up waterfall.

Soon, joy was cheek kisses, warm hugs, reuniting with the aunt you haven't seen in  a year. Giddiness as she hears about and celebrates your new job. Not a blood relative, but a cherished elder woman, from Mexico.

Soon sparkling juice was being offered, and each person offered toasts for family, friendship and God. In a trailer. In two languages.

After, I leaned in close to hear the shy words of a sweet six-year-old boy. I chortled with a toddler being tickled and swung him in circles to hear him giggle more. I witnessed arm-wrestling matches in which the child challenger is allowed to win.

I left friends certain that I had lived Joy.

There, joy abounds. People are joy, and time is nothing. Poverty is unknown in the wealth of friendship and family. Generosity abounds, as does joy.

In a trailer. In two languages.