In Illo Tempore

In illo Tempore

November 11, 2012

By: Gina Yoryet Roman

Whilst tasting my mother's exquisite cuisine skills when having late lunch with a friend and my mother yesterday, I couldn't help reminiscing about some of my best childhood memories. Amongst those vivid images are a myriad of moments of my siblings and I horse playing nonstop day and night. 

There are some vague flashes of my sisters and I walking to school together holding hands, fighting over our toys and making up the very next second (my sisters and I are closer in age but I also treasure momentos of my brothers). 

We shared a lot of priceless gifts all through our naive childhood, in our adolescence, during our young adulthood and now as older adults. Regardless of not talking about it much, we know that there will be a lifetime unbreakable bond uniting us, no matter the distance or any catch-22.

Having a full household with five girls and three boys was always a ton of fun for us - the children, but I bet it wasn't like that for my mother as each day concluded, she was wiped out after she came back from her full time job to take care of our needs; cook, clean, bathe us, finally put us to bed, after that, she'd manage to hop into bed herself at two or three in the morning and she had to get up again before five am to feed and bathe us and make sure that our hair was always sleek, our uniforms were always clean and that we always smelled of soap.

Flavouring that meal yesterday harbored a nostalgia for my childhood and of once upon a time when it was just the ten of us…In illo tempore. Was it more likely the fact of taking the time to flavor each bite since I am always on the go? 

Or because I was suddenly impacted with emotions because Christmas is around the corner and I long for all those years when it was all of us together sharing hugs, gifts and laughs.

Possibly! Sitting down and having a meal the way it's supposed to be, instead of having lunch in my car or anywhere I get a chance, was indubitably more joyful. 

That delicately made dish, transported me to illo tempore when things were a different story in Mexico and all our temporary homes when growing up. Caught amidst two cultures, I always believed that my mother was too old fashioned every time she said to us, "Life in Mexico is totally different from here, (The U. S.). In Mexico morals, values, respect, ethics, are still existent  in the younger generations."  So from thereon, an image of an immaculate and untouchable Mexico was engraved in my mind. Living in many different parts of Mexico during my childhood also reassured that affirmation when I witnessed younger peoples' behavior towards their elders, when marriages were life-lasting and when family bonds were stronger than now. I don't recall a great percent of teenage girls getting pregnant nor a lot of teens and young adults living such empty and superficial existence. For the most part we were surrounded with innocence and that incorruptibility lingered long after that. 

Humanity has indeed changed this society but I can't change anyone, change must start within first and foremost. And even when there may be very little good left, I still have one of the greatest presents I can ever be gifted with…

My family like it was once in illo tempore and the way it will soon be when mom, dad, HR1, HR2, HR3, RG1, RG2, RG3, RG4, RG5, DRG21, SJJR, HR1-2, HR2-2, HR3-2, ABJR1, AWR2, EMR1 can re-connect physically once again and celebrate the Roman Dynasty, our family legacy.

 "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."

Timothy 5:8