THE GREAT FABRICIO

There is this guy in Vancouver, his name is Dennis "Chip" Wilson. Yes, the very famous Chip. No other than one of the founders of the Lululemon brand of clothing. Now, I am not a great fan of him mostly because his clothes fit only the very slim (every once in a while I can slide myself into a size 12 - his largest size, which in the real world is a size 4 btw). Anyway, I give him kudos for having a new idea that has entire cities full of women in yoga pants as "daily wear" while he becomes a gazijillionaire.

ANYWAY all that to say that Chip sponsors this great annual race called the "Chip ain't dead yet memorial race". The reason I love this race is because he has decided to be celebrated BEFORE he is no longer around. Very original eh? I AM a great fan of telling people how great they are while they can still hear it. My grandmother used to say "EN vida, hazlo y dilo EN vida" which loosely translates into: "IN life, do it and say  it IN life".

So I'm  going to do it IN LIFE right here .....

November 2nd, Day of the Dead, the day my younger brother, THE GREAT FABRICIO was born. He is turning 43 and I have been around for all of those years. I do not remember the day he came home, I should. since I was 5 by then, but maybe it was not such a momentous event, there were two of us in the house already. He came with a funny name, I am the 4th Elena in my household (greatgrandma, grandma, mother and I, all Elenas), my middle brother was named after my father Jose Luis and then Fabricio.

Fabricio ... huh? what? Where did that come from? The story goes that my mother liked the name from a Stendhal novel she had read, The Charterhouse of Parma. Obviously the loooooong line of nerdiness began many years ago. Anyway an odd name to add to our very Mexican family but he has grown into it's uniqueness.

I'll tell you a funny story about his name since obviously he too felt the brunt of it's unusualness. Fabricio actually "changed" his name when he was about age 5 or 6 years of age while we were on a family trip to Chichen-Itza. This was done because he could not find one of those pens that the Maya decorate with thread and have your name on it. The name he chose ..... ready for this one? Sisebuto!!!! YEP! Sisebuto! This child could have gone conventional, there were plenty of Jesus (I think this should have been his first choice, the name comes with some heavy duty history!), Jose, Carlos and Manuel pens but no, he chose Sisebuto. You see THAT name we could easily find on a pen. If your child thinks that Sisebuto is a better name than Fabricio you know you are in trouble. To put the icing on the cake afterwards at home in the photo album from the trip and in his 5 year old print he wrote "This is the day I changed my name to Sisebuto"

As a child all I remember him doing is playing lots of Lego, being obsessed with Star Wars, the Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, American Football (an affliction inherited from my father) and soccer (an affliction inherited by all Mexicans). I also remember him pretending to be every character in every movie we ever saw, Rocky after we saw that. Luke after Star Wars and many many others. He was a pretty good egg and people noticed, he even won the camper of the year award - The Order of Kanasatka at Camp Quinebarge. As an adolescent I remember MORE soccer. Every Saturday he would play early in the morning and he would wake me up with the loud sound of his cleats on the marble stairs. As an adult he managed a well deserved Law degree and additional studies in Georgetown. He's pretty smart ... almost as smart as his sister.

Now at age 43, he is losing his hair, he has gained and lost a few pounds a few times, he is witty, funny and a techie (I am currently on the hunt for his iPhone 5). He is a SHOPPER! yes a MALE shopper. I know you thought they didn't exist eh? Every time he goes on a trip he shops, a LOT, every trip requires a new suitcase.  He loves watches (if you are ever in need of a gift for him, there you go). He eats in very small bites, loads his fork with little samples of everything on the plate like a plane loading passengers. He takes a loooong time to eat dessert and I mean a very long time - he ENJOYS his desserts!!! He still LOVES soccer and has been known to have his children say little white lies so that he does not have to answer the phone when I call so that there are no soccer distractions when he is watching a game. As a father he is pretty cool and wise.

As my current 43 year old Day of the Dead brother, he is witty, has a great sense of humour, he is generous,  he listens patiently during long phone conversations (maybe I give him reasons for the white lies eh?), gives good solid advice and often makes fun of me and my quirks.

SISEBUTO - HOLY CRAP!!! YOU. ARE. 43!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I THINK YOU ARE PRETTY DARN GREAT!!!

There I said it - IN LIFE!