By Kristina Morgan
Mexicans have a deeply rooted love and affection for their family. Considering I have no Mexican roots or ancestry, I am the first to admit how lucky I am to have all of my family here at Lake Chapala with me. They moved from Texas, California and Colorado to be here. Many of you know I have my husband and three children here….but did you know that my parents, brothers, my aunt and uncle and two cousins have also migrated south and all of them live within 15 minutes of me? This Thanksgiving one of the things I will be most thankful for is having my family and almost all of my extended family here at Lake Chapala. It is truly amazing to me that such different personalities from such different places have all converged in the most beautiful, simple and charming place I have ever been—and we all love it.
After settling in, I realized that despite the fact that I have almost all of my family here and being immersed in a completely family oriented culture in Mexico, we were all busy with our day to day lives and not spending enough time together. Weeks would go by and none of us had even talked! We were an American cliché living in Mexico. So we got together and decided to spend time together as a family, every Thursday night, come rain or shine.
Now when we get together we exchange books, listen, encourage, challenge and embrace each other while enjoying a sit-down potluck dinner that is never planned and always just seems to come together perfectly. Our conversation ranges from deep and challenging to raucous, teasing and raunchy with us doubled over in laughter. We sample Joel’s latest TallBoy homebrew beers and listen to the kids play guitar. We share our highs and lows and cheer each other on and give lots of hugs. In short—we’re a family.
My case is unusual in the sheer amount of family members who have moved here since we arrived in 1993. But it is pretty common for people to come here and fall in love with the area and decide to live here.
And as Mariann Wellmann, one of expert speakers says, “This place has a magic about it. I was just one of the many people who came here for a week and instinctively knew that this is where they should be for life.”
I have never heard a place being referred to so consistently as “magical.” But to me, it is. I find it ironic that my family had to move to Mexico from all of our different states in America to finally realize just how important it is to spend time with each other.
Our family night has extended a bit to a few friends in the area who have no family here…and anyone who comes to the Lake Chapala area will find that “family,” with very strong bonds, is formed very quickly here.