#gilbert james

[chrysocomae]

[alainas-sims]

Manuel’s Journal:

I attended the dance with my friends and there I saw Elsa again. She is warm and always considerate of my feelings and asks about how my family is faring. Of course I had to dance with her! Elsa loves the slow, romantic waltzes and ensures every step is in perfect time with mine.

But I also knew I had to ask Margarita as well— she lights up any room as soon as she enters. She told me that she wishes they would play ragtime music, but any time there was a quick and lively tune, she proceeded with confidence as we spun around the floor. In between songs we chatted by the dining table.

I do hope that neither girl is jealous of me dancing with them both. How could I say no to this opportunity to dance with these lovely young ladies?

[alainas-sims]

Manuel married Elsa on a lovely winter afternoon. The bride was insistent on wearing her mother’s wedding dress with the addition of lace sleeves for the cold weather. Elsa’s father walked her down the aisle happily. The groom’s parents, Arturo and Valeria, watched with pride— this was the same church in which they had exchanged their vows.

[alainas-sims]

Manuel’s Journal

Mamá and Papá would say it is not a productive use of my time, but my friends and I enjoy traveling where we can throughout the town to search for girls to talk to. Ernesto is always going up to them to try to talk all smooth and suave. He is younger than me but what he lacks in maturity he makes up for charisma. Joshua and Gilbert are more content to stand back and gossip from afar. They wonder if anyone has caught my eye and it is hard to say at this point. Joshua says that a town dance is coming up and we can get to know them better there.

[alainas-sims]

Manuel, the more extroverted of the Marquez siblings, loved school, especially recess when he would play with the boys in his class— Alan, Gilbert, and Joshua. He did well in the subjects that he liked, particularly English and Reading. Adela took longer to open up to her peers but had one friend in class, her cousin Nora. Adela was an eager student. She greatly admired her schoolteacher, Miss Hogan, and dreamed that someday, she could become a teacher too!

[chrysocomae]

[chrysocomae]

[lisamarie-vee]