SEBASTIAN — Ray Gonzalez tossed a football between his hands as he spoke of his great grandfather.
“He’s always called me cowboy, all the time,” said Ray, 8, who was celebrating the 101st birthday of his great grandfather, Alejandro Chavez.
“I am surprised that he’s lived that long a life,” Ray said.
He and about 100 relatives had converged on the family property in Sebastian to celebrate Chavez’s 100-year mark plus one. Many relatives at the reunion wore white T-shirts with black spots and the number 101 in reference to “101 Dalmatians.”
At last year’s annual Christmas pig-out, Alejandro Chavez had smiled big and proclaimed his plans to live 200 years. He seemed intent on keeping that promise.
Chavez’s son Beto, 72, tended a cabrito warming inside a large cooker called an “abalberto.” A few yards away, Chavez’s grandson Manuel Dominguez prepared pan de campo in a Dutch oven covered with coals.
A huge pot of carne guisada sat waiting for the next hungry appetite, courtesy of Chavez’s grandson, Beto Chavez Jr., 50. The elder Chavez taught him how to prepare it. Rather than reveal a family secret, Beto Chavez Jr. shared his grandfather’s advice on preparing a good carne guisada.
“He always said to make it smell like there’s going to be a wedding,” Chavez said.
Inside the house, Chavez’s children surrounded the aging patriarch who said he was feeling “all right.” His son Diego, 67, was grateful for the opportunity to share another birthday with him.
“Not everybody has a dad at 67,” he said.
Diego couldn’t stop bragging about his father, sharing old news clipping about the elder Chavez throwing the first pitch for the White Wings, a baseball team in Sebastian. He also showed a receipt of goods for “Chavez Grocery,” a business he owned between 1940 and 1970. Outside, generations of Chavez’s descendants enjoyed seeing one another and celebrating a rare occasion.
“It’s good, it’s a blessing, it’s a once in a lifetime experience,” said Traci Gonzalez, 30. “He’s my only grandfather I have left. He’s lived a full life.”
Her 3-week-old son Lane slept in her arms. She was delighted she could share the joy with her grandfather.
“He was shocked,” she said.
Relatives had journeyed from not only other parts of the Valley but also the rest of Texas and beyond.
“I am excited I was able to see him,” said Ashley Tovar, 29, one of many great granddaughters.
“We live in San Antonio,” she said. “My being able to have my great grandparents around is something really special.”
Her great grandmother Esther died in 2004.
An older gentleman commented that everyone there was related. Tovar looked around and said, “This is just scratching the surface.”
She stopped for a moment to consider further and added, “I think it’s only one fourth.”
A few feet away, Raul Trevino, 52, another grandson, cooked chicken, sausage and….something else.
“My nephew lives in Alaska,” said Nora Garza, another Chavez relative. “He went caribou hunting.”
The nephew didn’t make it to the reunion, but some of the caribou was on the pit where Trevino soon began offering samples for the curious and the hungry.
Meanwhile, Tovar was considering her next career move. She already had a degree in criminal justice and is now earning her master’s in business.
Business? Sound familiar? Wasn’t there a “Chavez Grocery” in the family history?
And so the family continues to write its history.
“I feel privileged to have him around this long,” said Beto Chavez Jr. “We will continue this tradition and keep it going for the kids and grandkids.”
This seems to be a family of many traditions. They also have the yearly Christmas pig-out, a tradition which began more than 50 years ago. Amid the conversation yesterday, they were already making plans for the big cookout next month.
