Such an amazing evening took place for our family yesterday. For the first time in thirteen years, the Soto’s got together. Here is how it all played out….
About a month ago, a dear childhood friend, Irene Davis, sent me an email saying she had found old 8mm films of my family from 1959 and 1960 and would like to give them to me to share with my family. I can tell you that I was overwhelmed with emotion since there are very few photos of when we were children.
I decided to have some fun with this and I called up all my family and said “I have a surprise for you… you have to come to dinner when I come visit next month!” Well, that started quite the buzz! The speculation of what the “surprise” might be gave the family something to really think about. The guesses were so funny! I told them “No one is dying, getting married, having a baby and I didn’t win the lotto”, so the sky was the limit at guessing. We had guesses from “LIPS is going to be on ESPN” to “You saved 15% on your car insurance”. lol
After all the guesses were read, I revealed the real reason I gathered everyone around…. the movie! What a pleasant surprise! Everyone gathered around the TV and we watched in anticipation. Hmmm… the first 3 mins passed… nope, these weren’t movies of our family! We all started cracking up! Then… a minute later… OH OH! There is my Dad! omg… how young he looked! So freakin handsome. They were making tamales and drinking tequila… typical! lol Then we saw ourselves opening presents at Christmas and all was good. Here were the treasures I hoped to share. My mother, an amazing beauty, my oldest sister who has passed when she was 19 years old in 1963, and my oldest brother who I haven’t seen since 1982 when he moved to Germany where he lives today were all in it. Oh, and em… I was so cute! I was 2 or three in the film. I can’t tell you how precious it was to see my family so young and adorable. Some of cried, some of us laughed and even the grandkids were in awe of the people many of them have never met.
After the film, we enjoyed memory lane and catching up on our lives. It’s so amazing how we can live in such a high tech world, yet we can’t find time to gather together. But, we have decided that it is time for an Annual Soto Family Reunion in our futures. It’s a must! 
I still can never think about what I should write in a blog… especially since I always feel like I’m a mad poster on facebook! But, this past week with all of my pff’s (poker friends forever) has just been amazing!! So, BLOG TIME! lol