In the Bleak Midwinter

The Day Our World Changed

November 13, 1989. 11:30 AM I had just finished my lunch in the teacher's workroom and was walking back to my classroom. I was teaching at San Jacinto Elementary in San Angelo, Texas at the time. Up until then, it had been a typical November day. As I walked past the school office, the door swung open, and a fellow teacher stepped out with a look of concern on her face. She spoke directly to me and said, “Your wife’s on the phone, and it sounds serious.” I ran into the office, took the phone, and heard my wife say, “I don’t know what happened, but your brother is on life support in a hospital in Austin.” Twelve hours later, my father and I were sharing a room in a hotel on I-35 in Austin. My sister-in-law, Sandy, and her six-year-old daughter, Araceli, were in a room across the hall. I hardly slept that night. I would doze off and suddenly wake up to my father crying and calling out my brother’s name. My brother was dead. Osiel had collapsed that morning while his h...

Try not to laugh too hard

So we finally gave in and bought a Wii. It turns out that it's a lot of fun. Unfortunately, my kids were having fun at my expense. I was trying out the boxing and had no idea Bethany was video taping me. The jerky movement at the end of the clip is Bethany shaking because she was laughing so hard.

Classical Music

Took a trip to Midland with Lillian, Bethany, and Ryan for Ryan's basketball game tonight. We went in Bethany's car, which has satellite radio. On the way up, we were listening to a Classical station that was playing Christmas music, specifically choral music. It was just beautiful! We got to hear music from Handel's Messiah (For Unto Us a Child is Born), as well as performances by Luciano Pavarrotti, the King's Singers, and many others. It made for great traveling. Oh, Ryan's team won the game. Ryan had a double double. For the uninitiated, that means he scored double digits in points and rebounds. It was a good evening.

Jehu Hernandez

Search This Blog