My great-grandmother was a wonderful cook. She had that old white gas stove in her small kitchen. I could still smell that cast iron pot full of beans and the pan full of arroz con pollo. I remember sitting at her kitchen table cleaning pinto beans so that they could soak the night before. Her recipes were never documented, but I helped her prepare those delicious meals.

We all called her Mama Eacha. I don't know where the name originated, but that's what everyone in the family and the neighborhood called her. She was born in 1899. Any time she started a story, she always reminded me that times were different then.

My great-grandmother had a small house with many windows. There were lots of big leafy plants shading these windows. Summers in Kingsville, Texas are very hot. Amazingly, she managed to keep her house cool. There was a fan in the bedroom window. The living room door always had a fan in front. This brought in cool air to be circulated to the back door. On really hot days we would eat ice or make raspas. Funny, the heat did not bother me too much then. We had so many fun things to entertain us. Mama Eacha knew so many stories about her grandfather and his adventures as a "Kineno" This is what they called men who worked for the King Ranch. She recounted tales about "Captain King". I do not know if she rode along with her father and grandfather on these rides in a wagon, but she sure sounded like she was there! I liked to pretend that she was in the middle of all of the action. She told stories about buried gold and chests full of treasures. Mama Eacha would rock on her chair and re-live her live as she shared so many of her adventureous memories.