At weddings (there were many), my aunts and cousins looked stunning, embellished in long, colorful sparkly gowns, while my sister and I wore cotton frocks that resembled those in Little House on the Prairie. It was the 1970's and my mom had moved to Mexico from California. She sewed her own clothes and never wore makeup, fed us All Bran for breakfast and baked whole-wheat bread. The four of us lived in a rustic wooden house surrounded by forest and dirt roads.
Although the life I live now is simple and calm, I hold dear the festive and abundant childhood memories of my beloved Lebanese family.