Writer. New Mexican in Houston. UC Berkeley school of journalism graduate and Houston Chronicle survivor.

Blog

Life in Houston. Travels around the world. Work, books and love.

Santa Fe magical realism

"My grandpa used to sit every day on that bench," my dad says. "I never met him but I would walk by here every day on my way to school and see him sitting there." How can you live in a place as small as Santa Fe and not even speak to your own family?

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Frankie Ortega
Mariano y Pita

Sixty years ago, on Dec. 1, 1945, my grandma and grandpa became The Ortegas: Mariano y Pita, said almost as one word marianoypita. They became an establishment, the base from which they raised six kids and two grandkids.

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Frankie Ortega Comments