Rrroll your "R"s please

A number of years ago, my family took its second cross country camping trip, and this time we were heading all the way to the West Coast. My Aunt and Uncle had given the family tickets to Disneyland, so of course, that was one of the destinations of interest. We picked up my oldest sister in San Francisco, so that she could join in on the fun. She had stayed behind to finish painting the family home. Our first visit to California was indeed a memorable one, the Redwoods, San Francisco, the Big Sur, and ultimately Anaheim and the Magic Kingdom, but something that I will not forget was my introduction to the rolling "R".

My sister and I were talking about some of the Spanish words and names that we encountered while heading south along the coast. We saw places to eat Mexican fare serving "burritos" with flour "tortillas" and "frijoles". It became our passion to pronounce those words with the proper roll of the "R". When we'd see a Taco Bell, my sister would wave her hands from side to side singing, "Taco Bell, Taco Bell". It became her signature trademark while in California. Naturally, another of the many stops along the way were the Spanish missions founded by Junipero Serra. You can only imagine the 2 of us rolling our "R"s and my sister singing her little ditty.

When I later lived in California and then went on to Mexico to further my education, I was reminded of the rolling "R" and that jingle sung by my sister years before. In fact, we have been known to "rrrelive" those "wonderrrful" memories when we have gathered since that time. These are the "trrruly grrreat trrreasures" from the past. Gracias para todas las memorias mi hermana!