Part 1: And Now a Word from Our Spouses: The Middle Child Finally Speaks

In this episode, we’re passing the mic to our spouses — two first-gen middle children who are finally telling their side of the story.

Part 1 is all about their upbringing. We dive into what it was like growing up in first-gen households, navigating sibling dynamics, and what being the middle child really looked like for them. Were they overlooked, the peacemakers, or lowkey running the show?

This episode is full of laughs, real stories, and moments every middle child will relate to.

Next week, we get into what it’s like being married to two first-gen eldest children… and trust us, you don’t want to miss it.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:22

Hey, what's up, everybody?

SPEAKER_06 0:24

Today's episode is gonna be really fun, um, because we have some very special guests. These are our rider dies, our best friends, the person that knows where all the bodies are buried, our spouses.

SPEAKER_03 0:36

Yeah, they know where we're telling the truth or not when we talk on this show.

SPEAKER_06 0:42

One thing U and I uh recently realized is that we share uh besides us being the eldest child and first gen, our spouses are middle children. And so that's really what we're gonna talk about today. Um, which if you know the sibling dynamic, it's a whole different personality type. We're diving into how that shaped their upbringings, their sibling right relationship, and what it's like being married to the two coolest persons on this earth, I believe.

SPEAKER_04 1:10

Yes, us.

SPEAKER_06 1:12

Ditto. Because let's be honest, that probably comes with its own challenges. So let's get into it.

SPEAKER_03 1:19

And before we uh start exposing each other, uh let's introduce our guests, of course, and let's start off by letting us know what your favorite cafecito is.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Okay, so I'm Josh. I'm Ugles husband. I mean, I'm sorry, I'm I'm Josh. Isabelle's husband. He's nervous too. I didn't even know what to do. Um my favorite cafecito, I've never had it before until Isabel introduced it to me, which is gonna be uh cafe de hoya. Okay. After that one time I've had it with her, it was uh that's what I always go to. And every time we go to any type of any type of uh restaurant, I look at their menu before we even go to to see if they even have it.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Mine, so hi, I'm Priscilla. Um's wifey, aka the uh one that keeps things together. The administrator. The administrator. My favorite coffee is Ethole. Um my mom honestly makes the best coffee. We all like everyone when we go to the house, we're like, oh my gosh, mom, put on a pot of coffee, please. We need coffee. And I don't know what it is, it's just you know, Folgers coffee in the original, like the coffee maker pot. She puts the sugar and all that stuff, so I think that's what the stinker sauce is.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

Yeah, but even when we try to make it like that, it doesn't come out. She's made it so many times that she knows what to do, and it just comes out right every time.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

And it's like so amazing. So I haven't had it in a very long time. So I just stick to the basic Keurig make cafe. That's like the really good one. Uh, with Starbucks caramel uh coffee creamer. So I settle for that. Um, but yeah, no, my mom's hands got the guys. I love that.

SPEAKER_03 3:04

Right. So tell us a little bit about yourselves and like where your family's from, how many siblings you have, and all that, all the good, let's get into the nitty-gritty ladies first.

unknown 3:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

All right. Uh as y'all as we were kind of goofing around before we got started. I definitely wrote a lot of notes here. So did Josh. Yeah. So we stuff that.

SPEAKER_03 3:26

What is that with y'all? Both of y'all came in with notes. Unknowingly.

SPEAKER_06 3:29

Yes, unknowingly. They both come in with the and bust out with their notes. Like at home, Josh was like, I'm taking notes for what? And he's like, I gotta, I gotta remember stuff. I gotta make sure I have everything planned.

SPEAKER_03 3:40

My memory's terrible. Are you are you studying? And she's like, No, I'm taking notes. I was like, for real? I was like, Yeah. I was like, okay. I was like, well, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

You want to hit the bullet points and really cool stuff. Like, I don't want to lose the thing. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

That's that's uh I'm gonna have notes here. I'm gonna read them.

SPEAKER_03 3:56

So you're saying if you don't put them back on the channel, you're gonna let us know everything right now.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

I would like to know what we need to know.

SPEAKER_06 4:03

And what did you say, Crisello, as a reason that why we were probably not having to do it?

SPEAKER_00 4:07

To me, I feel like because as middle children, we kind of have we prepare for the worst already that's already happened from the top up, and anything middle down, like we're ready for it. So let me get myself ready for what I need to prepare for. So and I think with you older people, the eldest uh sip uh siblings, you guys are on the fly. Y'all have to think on the fly and just go. We don't have no one that guided it. You don't have time to take notes, you don't have a reference point.

SPEAKER_06 4:35

Me and Ogre were mind-blown. We're like, oh, that's so true.

SPEAKER_03 4:38

That is very true. Never thought of it like that. Boom. Very good point. That's why you had on the show today. Go ahead. That's why we had you on the show today.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

Amen to that. Um, okay, so tell us about my tell you guys about myself. So again, I'm Priscilla. Um, my uh background, just to kind of give you guys an idea of where my my background is, um, I'm a corporate girly. Um been doing that for over like now 16 years. Um I I'm like the Jill of all trades in a way, because I've kind of dabbled in some like business-like things like hairstyling, um, real estate. Um shout out to my sister Maria, who kind of dabbled me into that world of the mortgage business and real estate. So um, and then that's where I kind of led into the more corporate side because I need a stability. So that's a little bit about my um background, and of course, we have a daughter together, as Ugo has mentioned so many times about it. So thank you for the shout outs that you give us on here. Um, my family originated from, so on my dad's side, um that uh the Arroyo Venega side, so that's Moneda Michorgan, shout out. Um, my on my dad's paternal side, um, mostly from Spain. We haven't really dabbled into that side of the world uh aside from knowing that there's like colonizer. I know colonizer.

SPEAKER_04 6:13

I know you got frankly Spanish over here.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

She's gonna be here. Yeah. Well, it gets juicier, so um, so yeah, so we know that there's like Spanish bloodline, right? Because my grandpa, he's like seven foot tall. Um, God rest his soul. I didn't get a chance to meet him, but I my dad tells so many great stories about him. Um and on my grandmother's side, uh, my dad's mom, she's uh the indigenous people that put a pecha. So shout out to her.

SPEAKER_06 6:45

Look at you.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

No, growing up, my dad just like he's a storyteller. He tells us awesome. He is.

SPEAKER_06 6:50

I love talking to him.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

So um it's just like a proud lineage on all the way around. Um, on his side, you know, you got the doctors, the lawyers, and the business strategists, and I think that's kind of where my head goes towards when you know, more entrepreneurial entrepreneurial stuff. Um, and then again, another shout out to my dad. Um, he had his has his Arroyo trucking business, so I've been doing that for many years. That's that's all I've known my dad to be, and he still drives at his ripe age of 70 plus. My dad doesn't like to put over 70 plus 50 50 plus. 50 plus 50 plus. And on my mother's side, um so my mom has many generations in in Texas. I never really have met most of my family on my mom's side, aside from the family in McCallan, the valley. Um she's uh born and raised in Farr uh Texas. So on my on her dad's side, my grandpa, um he was born in San Luis. Shout out San Luis, shout out San Luis. Um and on my uh grandmother's side, um, didn't know many, many people on that side. Um my mom spoke a lot about my grandmother, who she did uh pass before I was born from breast cancer. Um, she was born and raised in Carisol Springs. Um she I kind of did some digging because I want to know about my family. Like, who are they? Like my dad is so proud and talks so much about his side. I'm like, let me kind of dig on my mom's side. Um so I did find out, and there's this little funny thing with me.

SPEAKER_04 8:39

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:43

Um, so on my so again, on my uh maternal grandmother's side, um, my great-great-grandfather, Candelario Ortiz, um, he was a Texas Ranger. Um he was a deputy sheriff. There was a huge thing and there's a silent film. I kind of I started digging. Oh, that's it. And there's a silent film, it's black and white. Um he and along with the other Texas Ranger, they were kind of like in an ambush type situation. Um, got gunned down, he he ended up dying in that ambush. Uh there was like gun smuggling happening. Um, and then uh so he that was like in 1913. So I was like, wow, that's like really cool. So go ahead, babe. You want to start it?

SPEAKER_03 9:31

On my side. Some of the some of the earlier uh outlaws in songs and corridos that have the family name in them. I'm like, ooh, I think that's uh I think we're fighting Romero Juleta. Like our families probably did not get along in the past. Like uh, I think there's probably some history on my side where they were doing illegal activities and Priscilla's grandpa was trying to bust my family or great-grandpa, so that's our little Romeo and Juliet story. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 10:07

I say that Priscilla's a supercell and this is all an act, and she's gonna get her revenge.

SPEAKER_03 10:12

Revenge for the family, the long room. But then I told Priscilla, but think about it, we don't have money like that. My family don't come from no money like that. But there is a lot of there's a lot of songs with the family name in them. I was like, oh, like, you know, these people are talking about they're talking about the vinches that they guys and da da da da. I was like, that's like that's my great-grandpa. Well, well, that's my great-grandpa. We're gonna hash it out, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 10:34

The more I kind of dig into it, it seems like they do like a huge celebration over it. I just like haven't really dug further into it because I'm like, what if I find out something I don't want to find out? Well, you go to the celebration at the moment, it's very positive, is what I hear. So, but that's a little bit about me. Um, and then on my family's side.

SPEAKER_06 10:53

So And how many siblings do you have?

SPEAKER_00 10:56

I have seven siblings, and you're one huge family. What number are you? Number five. Um, so I'm middle-ish. So um, but yeah, I'm seven.

SPEAKER_03 11:07

We'll get into that.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

Yeah. We're like a little sandwich. Boys on the ends, opposite ends, and then all the girls in the middle. Oh, that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

Well, my story is definitely not that. He didn't do it, so let's read your notes, Doug. I mean, my family history is um I'm one of five. I'm the middle child of five, so I'm the third.

SPEAKER_04 11:31

Yeah, he's the middle, middle.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

And then my mom is from Piedras Negras. My dad is from Laredo, Texas. But his family on the other side is Laredo. And um, it was kind of crazy. That that little thing has always kind of been weird to me as far as why he is Moya, and that other family, the other family on the other side is Castillo. So I actually would have been Castillo de Moya or Moya de Castillo, but yeah. Everybody that was born on this side, my grandmother named Moya for her last name. Yeah, back then birth certificates were just like whatever.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Sounds like well misspellings, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:07

I don't know. But Moya is Spanish also, and we've got a castle, Moya, in Spain. Oh, there you go. Colonizer. Colonizer.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

It's in ruins, but we got Texas Fangers, we got castles.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

Oh yeah. I'm actually royalty. I'm actually royalty. No, I'm actually royalty. Let me see your family crest. Where's the chest? I've I've looked it up, it's there somewhere. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 12:27

Oh, didn't didn't your brother get it or something or send it to us?

SPEAKER_02 12:31

He did look it up too, yeah. Yeah. But I don't remember what it was. What was this castle at? I think we can make a trip out there. Like it's in the city of Moya. Okay. Well, you know. You know. I'm internationally known to be.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

She is. That's another thing. We've got two thrones.

SPEAKER_02 12:50

She sits on the other one. That's about the thing. We have three thrones. Well, I'm not rich, like, you don't have an upstairs.

SPEAKER_06 12:58

That's what Risa says. They're rich. They have an upstairs.

SPEAKER_03 13:01

You can tell that's a lie.

SPEAKER_02 13:04

But other than that, other than that, that's I was born in Michigan. Um, I moved here when I was about eight, and that's usually what everybody says. Hey, what's kind of when they get to home and they're like, oh, okay, that's why you are who you are. That makes sense. You're from Northern attitude. That's what they say. You that makes sense. You're from Michigan.

SPEAKER_03 13:19

He's been here for a long time.

SPEAKER_02 13:20

I think we can consider him a Texan now. Yeah. Probably about 30, 38 years. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

Stampin' Improved.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

Yeah, but when he goes to Michigan, I don't claim Texan.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

I haven't been in Michigan in forever. There you go. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_06 13:33

You couldn't tell by his accent though that he's from Michigan at all.

SPEAKER_03 13:37

Yeah. But yep, that's me. That's me. Yeah, but there is a lot of there is a lot of like names that change or differentiate in the same families. Half of my family spells their last name with a Z. Yeah. And half the family spells with the S. And it's all because of clerical error. And some of them kept it in my grandpa's uh, it was like his uh one of his ID cards or something. Remember the photo we saw? And it's he signed it with a Z and on the paper it says with the S. Oh. And so there was a whole issue a while back with like uh after he passed about the records and who gets or who does what or where the everything goes because it's like, well, no, this is misspelled. Like, well, no, this is this is a signature. It's it's uh it's confusing. But yeah, birth certificates and all that. Yeah, it's just my mom has two birthdays.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

And I forgot one more thing, and I didn't write it on my notes, that's why I'm gonna go. That's why we take notes.

SPEAKER_03 14:26

That's that could also be the Virgo in you too.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

But no, but in y'all's past um shows, y'all have done some shout-outs, and I want to do the same shout-out. Which Wiley, Texas. Oh, yeah. I was born in Wiley, Texas. They probably use the same thing.

SPEAKER_03 14:42

We need to go get him on the show.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

Right. I don't know if he's still alive. He was old.

SPEAKER_03 14:47

He was already like 80 years old when he delivered him.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

He delivered my niece and nephew.

SPEAKER_03 14:51

Was it him or was it his son?

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Because his son also I think it was uh with my niece, it was him and then my nephew.

SPEAKER_03 14:59

But where is his son at? We can follow the trimbles.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

Let's follow the trimbles. The Trimbles.

SPEAKER_06 15:04

The Trembles. They're yeah, they're famous. So I guess Uva and I have shared like what it was growing up as um as first gen. So y'all, how was it growing up first gen for you two? But being the middle child.

SPEAKER_02 15:21

Um, uh, for me, uh, I put I basically I wrote down in my notes. It to me it doesn't feel like it was real typical. When you guys talk about it on the show and in conversations, uh I I don't relate to a lot of those stories. Um a lot of them Yeah, your royalty, bro. You guys were the peasants. Um I do remember some things like waking up and having to clean and the music and stuff like that, but generally I don't have those types of stories. So I just woke up and I'd go do my thing and I'd go home and hang out in the streets.

SPEAKER_06 16:03

But you also had a single mother that worked all the time, so y'all were alone a lot of the time, too.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

Yeah. So, like I said, that's for me, nope, it wasn't real typical. So I didn't know how to answer that one. Well, there's no wrong or right answer. You woke up and you're like, hey, this isn't a test. There's no right or wrong answer, bro. It's an A plus right there. This is my first A plus ever.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

G I C shout out.

SPEAKER_02 16:32

That wasn't the school, that was just me.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Um, for me, I would say it was a mix. Um, like I I had mentioned with my background, um, many generations in with on my mom's side, um, and then with my dad's side, he um came over on a work visa, met my mom um at the migrant camps in Ohio. Um fell in love, the rest is history. Uh they've been together for 50 plus years. Um so yeah, it's it's it was really like a mix. Um my dad kind of took more of the leadership in the family. Um, and when once we settled back in Garland, and I of course I wasn't born yet, but once they settled back in Garland, um my dad obviously he's like he's a man with a plan and he takes lead and um everything, a lot of the things that we did, um it was a lot of influence with my mom because obviously she also speaks uh both Spanish and English. Um so we got introduced to like music like Michael Jackson or Cher or Um like all the the classic 50s and 60s. My dad is a super fan of CCR. Um so he kind of like and he's he's a city boy. He was you know from Morelia, so very city life.

SPEAKER_03 17:55

Yeah, this is Danny from the rancho, we discussed every time we have a get together.

SPEAKER_00 17:59

Okay, but we have gone to the to the uh rancho on my dad's other side.

SPEAKER_03 18:03

But your dad did always mention that they have family on both sides. Yes, yes, like the city life and the rancho life, yes, on both sides.

SPEAKER_00 18:10

But he was raised well, once they got established too in their side of town, um, it was mostly city life. And so yeah, so I I would say with my dad taking lead, like we uh grew up like first gen because a lot of things were newer to us. Um so I would say a good mix, but mostly felt like first gen growing up.

SPEAKER_06 18:32

Were your parents strict with you? I know like with us, I my mom was strict and had a lot of expectations. That were y'all was were like when it came to you all. I know you had two older siblings, like was it were she strict with you all or well, this is where it gets fun.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

I'd say that the strictness, my dad was mostly strict, like I couldn't even cut my hair because he loved like the long black hair, um, not dyeing my hair. Um none of us in the family, anyone, not even my cousins, we couldn't shave our legs. So funny story in gym class, like middle school, you know how you're like super like oh my gosh. Um I'd be super vulnerable right now. We will be It's okay too. My sister would take like um like like tape, like duct tape or masking tape or something, and we would just like act like we're waxing our legs and some of the hair would come off the wooding at the top.

SPEAKER_03 19:30

It's gonna find right though.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

You know what?

SPEAKER_03 19:33

Look if an advantage is a lot of things.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

I don't like my and we had to wear like shorts in gym class, you know, and I'm like, I didn't I want to shave my legs, but I couldn't. So in a sense, like those some strict expectations.

SPEAKER_03 19:47

Um like super traditional, like super traditional, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:51

So it's just how they grew up, right? Just you couldn't do certain things or um, but with my older siblings getting into some crazy things, um they I guess you know they they kind of um set some expectations on us younger ones to not you know get into trouble, into mischief and things like that, kind of like you know, they kind of did, and um, and and my sister's been very vocal about it. My other sister.

SPEAKER_06 20:22

Um she has a really good story too.

SPEAKER_00 20:24

Yeah, she's a survivor, she's a fighter. Um, and she she did get into like the the wrong crowd and things like that, and so did my brother, and um, and so I guess just kind of the things that they were involved with. My parents are like, Okay, you guys are definitely not gonna go out, you're definitely not gonna do this or that. Um, and it was just really just yeah, the expect the strictness was mostly just don't do what your older siblings did. Yeah, and then here's some traditions that I want you to follow. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:55

Well, I definitely didn't have that. Uh like like Isabel said, single mom, you know, she was always working, so we were always alone. You know, she used to work at that hypermart over there on Garland Road, she worked there for seven or eight years, and then she would also take care of an elderly couple for uh staying over there staying the night all the time. So we were always basically by ourselves with the checkbook, because she would give me also the checkbook, and we also had food stamps. Yeah, we had the the food stamp book too. So we would turn some of those off and taking some of them places.

SPEAKER_06 21:28

Because that's when they would give me cash back back in the day.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

Yeah, you could get some change back. But um definitely buy lobster? No, no, I I bought I would I would take a dollar.

SPEAKER_03 21:40

You should have got some lobster.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

I would take a dollar one and go to the store and buy like a bag of chips and use the other 75 cents to play video games. Uh I would just do that a bunch of times. But that's all we I could get, really.

SPEAKER_04 21:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

But no, um, strict wise, I didn't have any really didn't have any rules. I was basically just running around the streets all the time with my friends and on bicycles. And other neighborhoods that I didn't need to be in, and um other people's houses that I had no idea who they were, and they just barely met me. But I think it was a little different time at that time that you could do those things. But that's pretty much all I did, and would be on roof, you know, house roof houses and jumping off of those and riding bikes and making ramps and just yeah.

SPEAKER_06 22:24

But that's all we're gonna your brother's throwing you off a roof.

SPEAKER_00 22:27

That's always a story that comes up. Yeah, give us a vulnerable story, Josh.

SPEAKER_02 22:32

I got pushed off the roof. I felt the hand on my back, and my brother said no. It was because it was I was up there with a bunch of his friends, and I was younger, obviously. So I was just hanging there near the edge of it, and all of a sudden I got pushed off. My brother says, he laughs about it because he said my arms were flailing. When I hit the ground, I bounced. The Homer Simpson yeah, basically, but he never like confronted anybody to say who did it, and he didn't ever believe me. It was just I fell basically. And I was like, well, okay.

SPEAKER_06 23:01

So how uh far apart are you? It's you and James as your next brother.

SPEAKER_02 23:06

How far how six years older than me?

SPEAKER_06 23:08

And you, Priscilla, you and it's who's your older sibling? My brother Joe. How many years?

SPEAKER_00 23:13

So I think we're like 12 years apart. Oh wow, that's a big um.

SPEAKER_06 23:17

Well, even six years is a big.

SPEAKER_02 23:18

Yeah, it's a big f. That's okay. I don't feel bad.

SPEAKER_06 23:23

So, did uh either one of y'all have to help your parents navigate here in the US at all? Like translate doctors point. For me, no.

SPEAKER_02 23:31

No, my mom uh she navigated basically everything. She knew where she was going, she knew what she wanted to do and where she wanted to go. She speaks English.

SPEAKER_06 23:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:40

Um, I think she graduated high school in Michigan when they were living there.

SPEAKER_06 23:43

So she got her GED, right, in Michigan. Her and your dad went. How do I know more about your G? You and her um her and her your dad got their GED and I didn't even know my dad got G was GED. Uh-huh. Really? They both were going to classes. True memory. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:01

Class, yeah, that I knew that, but I forgot. That's what it was. But no, it's getting to it. He was getting to the babe. It was ability. Letting me let me finish my story. But other than that, just just those, just those travel, those trips from Michigan to Texas to Laredo, she would always navigate all the way through driving, and she would always tell me, Hey, you should be watching the roads so you know how to do this one day.

SPEAKER_04 24:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

And that's just that's how I learned how to just be able to navigate everywhere. I know I know how to go to. Yeah. I can get just about anywhere. I always know where I'm at.

SPEAKER_03 24:36

Never get lost. But it's a good sense of direction, I would say.

SPEAKER_06 24:40

She does too. Well, she used to. Now she says, I got lost the other day. But she's older now. How old is she?

SPEAKER_02 24:45

Seventy. I think she's 70.

SPEAKER_06 24:47

Yeah, she's still working though. And still she was dancing in our living room yesterday like nothing.

SPEAKER_02 24:53

Like I think she's gonna continue to work until in her 80s because my grandmother stopped working at like 82, something like that. So I think she'll she'll basically keel over if she don't if she stops working.

SPEAKER_00 25:05

Yeah, basically. I think that generations like that. My dad says I'm never gonna stop driving trucks.

SPEAKER_03 25:10

He can't stop working. And even if he's not working, he's doing something.

SPEAKER_00 25:13

Yeah, he's like, You want me to retire and do what? Sit on the couch? I'm like, Yes, Dad. Do any retirement? He's excited.

SPEAKER_03 25:18

Like, hey, can you help me change the brakes in the car? He's like, Yeah, come on over to the club. I know my dad's the same day. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 25:22

My dad, too. He came and did some last week he did some concrete work at our house. Yeah. And then he was so excited to go out there. I'm like, he's so cute. Look at him. He's out there doing concrete work.

SPEAKER_02 25:34

He came in all tired and sweaty.

SPEAKER_06 25:36

Yeah, one thing.

SPEAKER_02 25:37

Then we fed him some hot ass soup, and he was like, hey, tacaria.

SPEAKER_00 25:43

How about you, Priscilla? Um, so navigating things. So obviously, you know, with my mom, she was more than capable of doing things on her own. Um, of course, she had a bunch of us to care for, so there was some things like um responsibilities that we would have. So there's one story that will is a core memory, and for whatever reason, and we talk about it, me and we'll talk about it all the time. I remember like all the bad things or the traumatic things. So uh we went to Sak and Save. And I think my mom at the time worked there. You used to work.

SPEAKER_03 26:18

I love Sak and Save, bro.

SPEAKER_00 26:19

I used to love walking in there as a kid and just going to the penny candies and taking for the penny candy.

SPEAKER_03 26:25

Or y'all go and we ain't supposed to be going upstairs.

SPEAKER_00 26:27

We would go upstairs. Well, we would go upstairs to go find my mom because my mom's like, all right, I'm gonna go shopping. You guys, like at the time, like you said, it's a different time. We would walk around the store and all right, well, let's go find out where mom's at. We go upstairs, and I guess it was like the y'all's employee.

SPEAKER_02 26:43

Oh, she was working there?

SPEAKER_00 26:44

No, no, no, shopping.

SPEAKER_02 26:46

They they were just plugging for that. We were we need to go find her mom.

SPEAKER_00 26:51

We were going to the employee lunch, yeah, and it was huge, and it had the all the windows to oversee the whole store. So we go up there and then we go find my mom. Oh, there's mom over there in the produce section. Or we didn't say produce, obviously, but in that section, so we'd go and find her. Um, but the the memory that I have is that she had the she I guess she wanted to show me responsibility. I felt very young though, like maybe I don't know, I had to have been like eight, nine, I don't know. Um, so she gave me some money to go buy money orders. She told me exactly what to buy and um and or to to purchase. And so I went to the line and I asked the lady the men for the money order, and I gave her the money. Maybe I just left and walked away without getting the change, or maybe the cashier didn't realize I need a change. I don't know what the story was, but I came back and my mom's like, Il camio? I was like, What? You need a change? I don't even know what this is.

SPEAKER_02 27:49

Yeah, why don't you hang here?

SPEAKER_00 27:51

And so my mom had to go inside and like deal with the ordeal and hopefully it got figured out. I can't remember past that. I just knew that I messed up. And I think you know, me as a perfectionist now at an older age, I'm pretty sure that kind of made me molded me to what I am today. Make sure I don't make mistakes.

unknown 28:09

Right.

SPEAKER_03 28:10

Maybe I need a money order. Can you go give me a money order?

SPEAKER_00 28:12

She's like, no money orders. But on my dad's side, uh with my dad, um, you know, with his he does have a language very, but he still speaks really good English. I mean, in his line of business, he deals with a lot of um good old boys, yeah. And so, you know, he had his fair share of, you know, um conversate interesting conversations with him. But in a sense, and for us to like help him navigate, it was more business related.

SPEAKER_04 28:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:41

So as I I became a teenager, again, the responsibilities of helping him, like my mom did most of the documenting, like the admin work for the business. And um, but he had questions and about ordinances. I'm like, I don't know. But I read through them because I felt like I needed to like right, you go to school, you should know this. You should know this. You should know this. So just like kind of helping in that sense was like a huge responsibility. Um, and then you know, like also another thing was um the paperwork for my cousins to come over. Um he uh uh what is it, like a representative sponsor, sponsor there we go. So they had a typewriter and I was just typing away. I was just like, all right, who's next?

unknown 29:29

Who's next?

SPEAKER_00 29:30

That's an administrator giving away our age. So I think it's more of the those type responsibilities and navigating was was what I was like.

SPEAKER_06 29:40

Because your your siblings were out doing their thing.

SPEAKER_00 29:43

Oh yeah, like I said, 10, 12, age guy. Yeah, they were already.

SPEAKER_06 29:48

So you're kidding you kind of have uh like older sibling responsibilities for the little ones. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 29:55

Yeah, and I I will say just to touch on what you said, that your your experience is kind of half and half. Like you have some of the like on your mom's side, very much been here before, you know, the border cross them type, you know, and yeah. And then with your dad, very traditional, very it you can tell there's a big there's there's a lot of like like your dad's very traditional, like you better say hello, better shake your hand. Everyone everyone better get a hello, everybody get a goodbye. And then your mom is more she's still very much the same, but a little more relaxed, like a little more easygoing with with the traditions. Like she she lets things slide a little bit more than your dad, like he'll let you know.

SPEAKER_00 30:32

My mom's more reasonable.

SPEAKER_03 30:33

Reasonable, there you go.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

Yeah, she was more she still has her expectations. Like the other day, or not other day, but um after my recent surgery and my in-laws came over and I I said the word the or thu like or keppa. We'll get it too.

SPEAKER_03 30:49

We'll get that later.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

Um, and my mom kind of like you know, my mom. Because I was talking to my my swagda and my mom leans over, she's like, I was like, I know mom, but they don't talk like that.

SPEAKER_03 31:01

Oh we were talking about this uh on the way back from where we're I don't know where we're at. We were driving back, like you said that to my mom? I was like, I would never say that to your mom or dad.

SPEAKER_00 31:10

I would never say the uh you guys talk more relaxed, like with my mom with my dad, it's more proper because they're from the ciudat. And this is more like words like coche or that sounds like they are bro.

SPEAKER_03 31:25

We had a we had a long argument, not an argument, we had a long discussion, a debate about the that stuff. Like, well, your family's more relaxed and that-day. It's like, yeah, but that isn't like I still tell your parents like usted. You don't even call your own uncles deal to deal. But that's that's that's us. That's not your dad. That's the that's inside the family. When you're talking to someone else, it's always usted. So when you said you said something, mama looked at you kind of like her. That's what I go. You go to the body.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

But I when I met you guys, like yeah, we're definitely I was definitely like usted and very culture shock. But the more like I got um in more involved with the family, it was like very relaxed.

SPEAKER_03 32:02

Like even last night, my uncle told my my my cousin, I guess. Like that that's how we are. We just so it's very different. And and you can tell, like, like your dad loves it, like your dad gets it, and your mom and the trucking business it's all vulgar.

SPEAKER_00 32:17

My mom, she's more reserved, she's very reserved. Yeah, yeah. She's like, I don't like that type of talk. And sometimes I can be that way too.

SPEAKER_03 32:24

So then, like, Priscilla, the yeah, my side rubs up on her, and we're talking out there, and I'm just looking at Priscilla, and I look at your mom and she's like, What did my daughter just say?

SPEAKER_06 32:32

Like, sorry mom, we're gonna have a taco and get home. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:35

But your dad, your dad's like, he's all about like her dad loves it. Like, that's that's how you talk with his uncles, that's how he talks with his family. But then your mom is very, very like and a good it's a good thing. It's a very respectable way to to handle it. Um, but it's very y'all are very you have you have a mixture of like complete opposite. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:53

I'm 50 moments.

SPEAKER_03 32:54

And then we got our ghetto family around this. We're not doctors in the way. That's how we do it. So I went to San Luis um real quick. First of all, I was like, where's the bathroom? It's like you see up the outfit of the hill. That's where you got to go. The hill?

SPEAKER_00 33:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:12

You know why it's up the hill? So the wind carries it away. You don't that's technology right there. So we talked about you guys, yeah. We talked about you guys growing up first gen. Let's get a little more into about being the middle child. Like, um, sorry. Like, so do you like I know I'll and I'll let you explain for something. I know yours is a little bit unique. Um, but do you do you really feel like you were the middle child growing up? Like, is there is that we don't know what that is like. It's like I have a middle uh brother who's a middle child, but you don't we don't talk about him being the middle child. Do y'all really feel like y'all grew up as a middle child?

SPEAKER_02 33:45

Or is there any differences that you can I think I'm I think I'm more of I I don't really feel like a middle child because you know my my older siblings are six and seven years older. Yeah. And the oldest one left when he was 18. So he was gone most of my life from that house or from growing up. The other brother, he was there, but he was just kind of doing his own thing. Um hanging out with his friends, not really around us. And I have two younger sisters, uh a sister and a brother younger, but I kind of feel like I was an older older child too. Now, again, I don't feel like I had the typical eldest child lifestyle, but he takes notes. Take notes. Uh that's because of my memory. Let me look that's so funny though. But I I just don't I don't feel like I I know what a middle child is supposed to feel like.

SPEAKER_03 34:40

So you wouldn't say it's like the traditional like what's on TV, oh you're the middle the black swan of the family's motorcycle.

SPEAKER_02 34:46

Yeah, I mean in that case I could probably be the black swan. Yeah, I could probably be that because I I I think I do stay in the middle of arguments. Um I don't like I'm more I'm very passive aggressive. Yes. Um Isa said that was a and uh I mean I I I I consider myself a realistic person versus I like some people like to call me a pessimistic person, but I feel like I see both sides of everything or multiple sides of everything because of that preparedness, how I think it has to be prepared, so I don't uh typically I don't feel like I've grown up as a middle child. I feel like I've grown up as an older child. Okay, or the oldest child, sorry.

SPEAKER_03 35:28

Like an older older sibling.

SPEAKER_02 35:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

Yeah. Uh for me, um, 50-50, you know, like we were talking about with the age gap. Um, like I my older sister Maria, she took on a lot of the responsibility um as far as like a like a second mom. I see her like my second mom. Um and uh so when it comes to like being a middle child, I'd say maybe when I was very young, like like what you were talking about, Josh, you know, kind of just going outside and running around. You know, my dad would bring like um because he's a truck truck driver, so he would bring home like a mountain of like sand and we would be outside and dig into the sand. So I think uh we were given that um freedom in a sense to kind of just be kids for as long as we could um and not hold that big responsibility as my older siblings did growing up. Um but I think once the once um Joe, Maria, Melissa kind of moved on and into their next chapter in life, um, having their own kids, I think um that's where I felt the shift. And I felt like I then became a protector of my younger siblings. And then my older my my sister above me, which is Brenda, um, she's technically the middle child. Um when she was little, you know, she um suffered a really high fever. Um Dr. Trimble did everything he could to help um relieve the the fever.

SPEAKER_03 37:05

No, we don't have uh cleaning, so we're like using the month.

SPEAKER_00 37:16

You know, I was like, I wonder if like I I just I didn't think where I would like fill like my emotions because I told Asa before we started, I was like, talking about my family is like makes me super emotional and nervous, and nervous, right? Um but with Brenda, um she's so freaking smart, she's a high-functioning um adult with um a mental disability because of that fever. Um, you know, it it burned a lot of her brain cells. So growing up, she um, you know, she was held back a lot um in life. So um, but hey, she has she's a uh mind of her own. Uh nothing will hold her back. She will still be like, I'm going to the library. I'm gonna go to college, I'm gonna go take some classes. I mean, it was challenging for her, but she's she was like, I'm gonna do it. I don't care. Um, she knows her way around the dark system. Yeah, I'm pretty sure you guys will be all on the road haven't seen this too.

SPEAKER_02 38:18

I've seen her a bunch of times on the road on Centerville, and I'm like, I'm gonna yell out, Brenda, but I feel like I'm gonna freak her out if I do so on the boat.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

Um, but um, so I think you know, of course, her being a middle child and then her having her own challenges, um, and then being, you know, she's still my mom, my mom is her caretaker as an adult. Um, I still felt that shift towards me to be that protector, even though Brenda's like, I can fend for myself.

SPEAKER_05 38:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:44

In middle school, I I tried to like help her with someone that was like bullying her, and she's like, Don't do that for me. I can do it myself. Okay, sister, you got this. Fine. But she's very strong. She's like, you know, I I can handle my own. And then with my younger siblings, I did feel like still that protector, even though like I knew I didn't have to, but I felt like I needed to protect her.

SPEAKER_06 39:08

And they like they look up to you a lot too, because when we're here, like Crystal and um your Chris, they like you're like their big sister. It's cute.

SPEAKER_00 39:18

Yeah, like with Chris, I can talk anything with him. And we still we still owe him a Sunday fun day. We haven't had a lot of.

SPEAKER_03 39:25

Yeah, we gotta start that early though. Yeah. In our in our day and eight. We gotta start like an eight. It's a Sunday morning. And we start right after mass.

SPEAKER_00 39:33

Yeah, yeah, let's start brunch early. And with Crystal, it's like she's so independent, she's just she's an amazing uh mother too. And again, like just the protective of me, you know. She's just like she's strong on her own, and I had to learn that. Like, you know what, she she got this, and it was it wasn't until like after me and Ugo got married and I moved on. Like, for me, it just felt like that was my my pattern. Like, I had to just like I got I got the marriage, um, it's time for me to move out. I didn't take into consideration how my little sister felt, and it wasn't until years later she's like, Sister, that was really hard for me when I was a child. I didn't know that. I was so sorry.

SPEAKER_06 40:13

You know, we don't think of because my little sister too, like she sent us like a video saying this is how I felt. And it was someone eating at a table by themselves, and all I'm like, oh my god, we left you.

SPEAKER_00 40:25

I know, and I didn't it didn't click for me. I just thought like this is the expectation, this is my next I'm next to go, and you got this. Uh and I just I didn't take the time to say, you know what, like I like a an actual goodbye.

SPEAKER_03 40:38

Yeah, yeah, well, my siblings haven't said in the pantry for me, so they're probably like, thank God. We don't know we never thought he was gonna leave finally he did it. So um, do you guys so be being kind of the role maybe you guys felt was kind of old as sibling, do you guys think you were more like a peacemaker or a troublemaker, or like because there are definite roles.

SPEAKER_06 40:58

I see both of y'all being peacemakers.

SPEAKER_03 41:00

Because I don't know, I know peacemaker, but you know, if someone's messing with little sis, big sis was up in there trying to fight somebody.

SPEAKER_00 41:08

The peacemaker, and this is funny because it's an inside joke with me and my older sister Maria, the peacemakers. Um, as y'all know, you know, they they were in a lot of um their own uh doings in life, and I got into some trouble. So I guess I kind of felt like, oh, when my parents wanted us to do things like the right way and don't like make trouble, like I felt like, oh my gosh, let me be on my P's and Q's and let me be good. So they look at me like I'm the goody goody. Yeah and my little brother, my little brother, um, because my mom always like she sees me like very like high, like like you know, like on a high pedestal, and I'm like, mommy, I'm not that much of an angel. And then Chris is like, yeah, mom, she's not that much of an angel. We should see her. But no, I I do like I do hold myself at a high standard. Yeah. But when it's um when there's trouble to be made, it's because it was brought up to be made.

SPEAKER_06 42:05

It has to, it takes a lot, but the good thing about Priscilla and Josh is what you see is what you get with them. Like it's like you never wonder where you're at with them or anything. It's like what you see is what you get. And I think to me, that's kind of a peacemaker because with Josh too, like he helps me because I get riled up real quick. And he like not you, is it the He like sits back and thinks and analyzes everything, and so does Priscilla. And then Yeah, they do, don't they? They think before they speak. Yeah, not us.

SPEAKER_02 42:36

Sorry, not us. That's Josh's job to correct us. It's not gonna do any good for both of us to be hot-headed like that. It's not gonna happen. Well, I did have a moment.

SPEAKER_00 42:43

I didn't say hot-headed.

SPEAKER_03 42:46

I'm trying to say jot-headed.

SPEAKER_00 42:48

I did have a moment though, and I and I'm not um shared as not shy to share this. Um, it is a part of me and my history, and you know, most people when I say this story, they're like, no, not you. Um, but in middle school, again, you know, just like what story you talk about?

SPEAKER_03 43:04

What story are you talking about? Hold up, race buff? No, no, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 43:07

I think I think mostly it comes from my my way of thinking of this is what's supposed to happen next. So, of course, y'all know like in Garland uh they have feeder schools.

SPEAKER_04 43:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:18

And my feeder school to middle school was supposed to be cellars, and then I was supposed to go to Garland High School because that's what my older siblings did. But again, because they were involved in a lot of like uh things. It was the 90s, it was like the 90s, and there was a lot of a lot of like school fights and things like that, and my mom was like, Heck no, we're not doing this again. So we completely moved on the other side of Garland where South Garland then enters the chat, and that feeder school was um obeying in. So at that time, you know, you're in a new school and you're like trying to meet new people, and I'm like a shy person at first. Um, it takes a lot for my like my Wall Street. come down to like you know hey I'm gonna trust you with my yes my life you know in a way um so when you know I I kind of got involved with the wrong crowd too at the time um and unfortunately got kicked out of school you and it shocked the whole school like the whole school like you were expelled or suspended I was expelled and got sent to night school two of them night school kids I'm dating a third girl where they get what are yeah my parents were mortified my parents were mortified and um yeah I did the whole night school thing and shout out to my uncle who was there and you know he gave me a lot of like good advice when he would take me to night school and um because my mom worked night so he had to help bring me back home and stuff but um but yeah that unfortunately was my only troublemaker moment. Wow I don't know about homes I never did my dad's like is that why you wanted me to buy you jinkos and yes and I was like I don't know I just um just got mixed up with the wrong people and not little Priscilla right I would have never known I know we tell Maddie on the time here but mom wasn't uh but that that rocked me and I'm like I'm never gonna do anything like that. How was night school was it just the culture should be all stabbing each other at night no roll it nice they made us wear white t-shirts and khaki pants as if we were like brown berets it did teach me to like really think more about my actions and really think like let me get refocused back into my academics because if I apply myself I can do some amazing things but I I felt like I didn't really apply myself in school I was like too good too cool for school type of do right there.

SPEAKER_03 45:58

I know I do yeah I know I do it was too easy for me easy a lucky but I did get out on good behavior and I went back just in time for my eighth grade banquet you're an umbro for good and I completely changed my whole look like everything like I'm not gonna wear the jinkos that but no more that's what caused it it was that's what caused it oh my daddy bird shirts and black lipstick ooze speaking of that go ahead go ahead Tweety bird shirt oh yeah no elmo well I did do the balloony toons but nailing on his knee on the that was my only troublemaker moment that I got I I got back on track how about you Josh uh I think I was both I was the peacemaker and the troublemaker well when you hung out with U on them you were the top no yeah we were we were we were we weren't crazy but we didn't do wow we didn't do stupid wow stuff we did stupid no they just had a helicopter cop chase them down that was that was I wasn't there that Josh wasn't there he's responsible I was with you I think but I think I think we did we were we were like typical teenagers we didn't do great we did crazy stuff but it was like in good nature like we wouldn't have got arrested for something we didn't we just drank and ate people's houses the deer stuff was that's why I don't want to put deer out my house anymore because I'm just I'm scared that's what she was like you bought deer she's like yeah I was like why it's like I'm gonna get get karma it's gonna come back to me oh so no no other than that I I think I was a troublemaker peacemaker I just did what I did as far as being calm and yada yada but troublemaker I was I was a thug on the streets and the lady the sheets you can't see it you can't see it but no uh speaking of the the the shirt you're talking about the Tweety bird actually I went to Sam's today and they have that old school Bugs Bunny with the Tasmanian devil damn it the white t-shirt well it's like a tan color but it's the where they're all thugged out there you should have gotten that for Twitter I used to have that shirt I don't need that shirt no more not for Tristan well maybe we'll go back and get it nostalgia I gotta go to Sam's for some cream cheese for a dip so I'm gonna have to go get that shirt um so kind of on kind of on the same thing uh would you guys say that maybe because again this is something that maybe me and Isa don't have a lot of experience in but do you guys think that your parents might have treated you guys see everything and you're in the kind of in the middle do they treat y'all any differently by like your age I know each parent has their bond with their kid but do you think based on like the firstborn gets this secondborn gets that middle child like do you think it was different intertreatment or handling of things?

SPEAKER_06 48:46

I don't think so much your mom probably the family though. Yeah no definitely my family um my grandparents especially were and uncle too yeah they were more um their favorites were the two older brothers actually there were four older children older grandchildren with my two older brothers and uh my cousins from Michigan they were the four grandchildren that were firstborn so everybody they were their favorites everybody was their favorites basically after that I'm next out of all the grandchildren and then it was kind of like well we already got these guys and what do we need this one for so you know I I still kind of feel like I didn't really get a whole lot of um grandparent you know spoiling you spoiling I mean I maybe I did and maybe I don't remember it yeah but well everyone says you were the cutest baby though no that's 100% definite even like his brother baby no way okay now that's what I'm saying that's what I'm saying I don't know but no but you ask his older cousins and that's when I first met them that's the first thing they said his brothers are like y'all are gonna have cute babies because Josh was the cutest baby ever told him and then his baby pictures he is so cute he could have been the Gerber baby for sure but not no more I also will find out yeah it'll still fun for me we'll recirculate it and we'll have everyone vote for you from 1981 circa 1981 okay um for me I guess I wouldn't say well like you said the bond is definitely that's different right a different perspective but um as far as like our birth order again the huge age gap like the older sisters got the um the hand sewn dresses like my mom is a dressmaker she loves the sewing machine um so she loved making dresses I think when it got to my turn she was more involved with the work life yeah um again you know having a bigger family um the uh having to share um the finances and things like that and she was like I'm gonna go back into it so she did night shift and my dad did um for something um so I'd say in a sense like the older siblings probably got like um more things we got the hand me down but I love the hand me down so like the cabbage patch kit I was like I want to did you keep any of your mom's dresses that she made you know because growing up we we moved so much like I think just within the moves and and I don't know if anybody kept any of those things um but there's pictures obviously you can see that um and then you know as far as a favorite I don't see favorites but I do definitely see hearing from my siblings presently the favorite I was like because you probably gave your mom less trouble like to me like besides that one instant that one instant because Tristan Reese's like Tristan's your favorite I was like no it's just he's easy like he's just go with the flow I say no okay and you know what I mean it's just and he does really good in school it's just easy I was like it's not that he's our favorite I'm easy to talk to and I think that's where me and my mom have uh built a great bond um she worked up until the 9-11 happened um telecommunications got completely wiped out so um she was working at Fijitsu in Wiley um for many years and she was one of the last ones I get laid off and I've told my mom this and and I know that it was I may have not said it the best way I could at the time because it brought my mom to tears but I felt like I told my mom I was like you know you work so much night night shift um and you had to you had no choice um that I really we I only got to see like my mom like weekends or um when we did the Christmas vacations and making people we spent time together.

SPEAKER_00 52:56

But as far as like a bond like the talk and things like that when she got laid off and she stayed home since then and and um she take to take care of the house and my my um sisters you know that so I think from there like we were I was like oh my god I saw you I got to like hear your stories and we talked a lot um and to this day we still like I mean I know she wants me to call her more often I know I should y'all need to l you need to listen to the song Devi by Monaferte just you talking about me about about that uh reminds me but you should listen to it so good it's about her and her mom but it's called Devi and you'll know why when you hear it you're gonna be like yeah that's us. So and and I I mean I just you know I appreciate that side of um that unfortunate you know happening and um just being able to create that bond with her and then and with my dad like a he's a storyteller. Oh yeah he is um and back to the whole favorite thing my dad he again vulnerability um he calls me Pichirita um and he's always like talking to me like that like with Garinho and things like that. So um if my my siblings are listening to me um I I just feel like that's more of an endearment not like a favoritism because I see And they're gonna be like whatever person I know um but um but he you know he does that with all of us and it's just like with me he just I he to this day he'll still say hey Mija, y'all have a home to come back to if y'all want to come back.

SPEAKER_06 54:37

So yeah we're good so uh Josh's mom calls him Elefante.

SPEAKER_02 54:41

Oh now we got a new name to call that's because I used to like um whenever if she'd be laying in bed I'd go in there and just lay on her or something like that. She's get off me Elefante. I was fat I guess I don't know the husky kids that's what she calls them.

SPEAKER_03 54:57

But Priscilla you can you can be honest we know who your parents' favorite is I don't think they have their favorite child is is me.

SPEAKER_02 55:04

Oh you're the favorite yardno I'm the favorite of all I finally don't of all I've earned so many brownie points we're good the brownie we talk about that a lot same with Josh my parents love him my brother in law rolls his eyes all the time yes they do right I see who gets most presents when this was you no yeah Chris would be like we know you're the favorite you got the brownie points I was gonna say about you and Chris I do um I I like your your relationship with your dynamic that's really cool um I don't I definitely don't have nothing like that with anybody yeah no he's like I met him when he was that's really cool he was like in third grade maybe third or fourth grade he was our um middle um mediator yeah he was our anytime that me and Uhle had like a fallen out and Oogle would come over he's like he had this mixed CD too or good to see your sister brown that I know I brought my I used to I used to have that similar relationship like that with her sisters when they were younger yeah we we had a you know they were like our daughters at the time we take them everywhere and then they grew up and that's my boy but you and Gabby are coming back though I think you're Gabby then I also think I I I think about you know why that relationship kind of strained is because maybe because they're growing up yeah and I'm staying where I'm at yeah I see that's you know what I mean like you're they're still little girls where you're I just I still do the same things with them as far as jokes and stuff like that but I haven't grown up with it. Yeah. So maybe I need to start telling more adult jokes.

SPEAKER_03 56:41

Yeah but I I I do see that because to to me I I see where like there's an instance where like we're just like we was see each other all the time but now that everyone's kind of doing their thing they're growing up they're kind of like taking past to do their own thing and I was like alright and then you kind of realize oh like he's not that little anymore like he's a he's a grown ass man now.

SPEAKER_06 56:58

But no we talk all the time we have our own group chat like um and I think the family Priscilla's family has we have a group chat and then we have another side group chat with just me you and your brother and then I'm sure y'all have another group chat somewhere and then my family has a group chat but yeah their family is big so that group chat is always going like with our family like we'll get onto each other we'll tell each other off but if anybody on the outside tries to we're all like ah but but y'all ain't y'all ain't wild like me and my family no we will call you out right there and yeah you guys kind of like do it like right then and there and we just like you went too far like yeah it happened yesterday it was I won't share the example but my mom I told my mom something and my mom went to my cousin Denise I told you it's like why'd you tell him I was like she had a no sometime it was all fun and jokes but it's it's we we will not shy away from no so do y'all think y'all ever did anything uh that you would consider like the most middle child thing like I know y'all didn't really grow feeling a middle child josh just fallen being pushed down off a roof I I looked at that question and I was just like I don't I don't know how to answer that being do you see anything that maybe Josh does as a middle child thing because we are that's overseers of work siblings like I he hates when I with his older brother like I defend his older brother a lot and he hates it because like he sees a different version but I'm the oldest and his brother's oldest so I'm like but I'm always like well you gotta see it from his perspective and he's just like I don't gotta see the damn version I've seen a lot of things I think that's the only thing is that that he holds his oldest siblings more like like at fault at fault or they should have done more and I'm like there were kids themselves like you know what I mean and I put my pla put myself in their place and so he hates when I say so to see to say that I I do and I've had some conversations with you and other people about my oldest brother I feel like he's always come back when he came from Laredo he went to Laredo with my dad when he was like 18 and my dad left my mom kicked him out and they moved to Laredo and since then he's always kind of come back in town and he's the big older brother nice new flashy truck he's the hero blah blah blah you know that thing you know but he also came back because he had friends here so he would always come and hang out with his friends so he would hang out with us as the older brother did things and then you go hang out with the friends at night so it wasn't really like you were coming to us to hang out with your family and teach us things and and help us out in life.

SPEAKER_02 59:35

It was you were just coming and mess around basically that's how I always saw it.

SPEAKER_06 59:39

Yeah and I and I tell him I was like well that wasn't his responsibility like you're putting too much responsibility his responsibility wasn't to come home and be a big brother and responsible for y'all and I was like he you you give him too much responsibility and it's not fair to him and he's he just I mean because I see I put myself in as an oldest sibling that response very sounds very much like a middle child.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:01

Yeah response yeah I'm just saying I'm just saying not in a most middle child not in a negative not in a negative way but I think there's not yes not in a negative way but I think there really truly is a different uh we see things a little bit differently because the expectations on us were completely different than like my brother's expectation and like things that he did because we had our siblings and expectations and our parents' expectations on top of that. And we honestly and not to like no small violin playing but we didn't have anyone else to guide us.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:28

Yeah like it really it really wasn't like we didn't have anyone hey how do you like that TikTok that you said was like I wish my older sibling had an older sibling I I there's there's no one that like when trouble with homework or language barriers that I didn't understand like who do who do I go to I had some aunts maybe an older aunt or an older uncle that were kind of closer in age because they were younger but yeah other than that it was like it's figured out like yeah but I think going back to what Josh was saying about his older sibling coming over with like the newest things or I think maybe in a sense like for my older siblings they want wanted us to see what you can aspire to be I think they was I think it's just the approach yeah probably was kind of like a show off y approach yeah that that I definitely see that I've definitely but I think it was more of like hey you guys can do this too but it probably wasn't expressive but one thing about his brother his older brother is any little thing Josh and I accomplish or do he is like our biggest cheerleader like even though Josh doesn't but he is he's just like when we got our house he was just like oh my god this is amazing y'all are doing good when Josh got his promotion he was so excited when I got my promotion he said I've never made that much money yeah and he's just always like but and you know what I mean he's very and I'm like that's such an older sibling thing like he's so excited for us and I tell Josh I was like that's the things that you need to focus on like you see that and I and that's what gives me grace and David or David Grace and she said that to me she said like you know you need to I was like I need to do damn do what I want do what I want after you well like the other day I've I've got this thing at work and she was getting on to me about you need to do this you need to do this and I just had I had my head down the whole time and I was just thinking that I don't care enough to do those things.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:15

But I don't know if it's just that I don't care to do them. I was never taught to do that.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:19

I was never never learned how to saw that it was that to do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:24

Yeah and I don't want to do it and do it wrong even though it's getting in somebody's face or getting into an artist learning how to do those things. Didn't know how to do them didn't know how to do it. Two older brothers they grew up together so they always had each other's back. Yeah and then the two well she may had her off the yeah you're by yourself truly middle child and I couldn't I couldn't beat up on my I couldn't beat up on my younger brother and sister because they're younger than me so now you got pushed off the roof.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:53

So the old ones pushed you off the roof so you couldn't it may have been James's hand that pushed me off somebody it wasn't the wind something got out of you.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:02

The mystery and solid P do you think there's anything that um for me the most middle child thing um again kind of like what Josh was saying is like what maybe you guys will kind of we'll break it down for you my truth here. But I just feel like a middle child again with the age gap and um having younger siblings to you know look over and things like that. But as a younger child um I was nine when my niece my first niece was born um Maria um was a young mom and um she again was like my second mom and um I was always available to help. I was the helper. I am here to help I'm Miss Hospitality and that I mean we will talk about it all the time like when people come over I was like I have like these hospitality type things that come out and I'm like I just want to help and provide and I think that's little sister too because my little sister is like that too.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:07

I think that's just a little sister thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:09

I don't know I I think we pushed her into that yeah and then we eventually removed we nicknamed her grabby because we always sent her to get everything yeah I'm like okay I'll go do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:21

Yeah but that's how she would basically yeah we called her okay grabby grabby go get us this okay so like that that I guess you know again being that babysitter and my my sister would talk about it like we'll laugh about it. She's like yeah Mihai I used to tell you I'm gonna order pizza and then we're gonna have a party and then all right you're gonna help babysit while we go and we'll be right back. But uh but yeah that was the most middle child thing that I can think of. Um and then just like you know when I was able to just be me and just kind of be free um I was a big dreamer. I thought a lot about what I wanted to be growing up um what I wanted to get involved with like I was a uh what do you get self motivator? Well I wanted to be a cheerleader I was in my own like dreamland that I'm gonna be a cheerleader and this is like an elementary school um so and I always did things alone too even though I had older siblings younger siblings there was times where I'm like outside on my own and just kind of just doing my own thing for a little bit um and so yeah but you you also grew up in a big family. Yeah it's so different our dynamics in our household to yourself oh in the beginning of our marriage I was like like I was just always used to being in my own bedroom. Like when I finally got to that point that I had my own bedroom was like in high school um and I didn't have to share a room like I loved just being in my own space. I didn't have to hear all the noise. So and Uh well when I would like Go visit them at the house, like they were all in the living room. Oh my y'all just kind of hang out. Is this normal? This is normal.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:07

There's only three of us.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:08

But no, and then like I just was I enjoyed my my little bubble, my little safety.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:13

Yeah, but even things like when we go eat, like you did your your eating habit, like the way you eat is different than what I eat. You want to go there? I will because it's and I I never thought about it, like because it's like just being big family dynamic is like in the way, and if you don't mind if I share it, you say, hey, look, we don't like your I don't think it's gonna matter if you mind. Yeah, no, it's not sound like it. Your parents had to feed seven kids.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:35

It wasn't in my notes to talk about.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:36

They had to feed seven, I had to feed it. They they had to feed seven kids. So Priscilla was like, sometimes there wasn't enough for seconds. Right. And you and her thing was like me and Maddie, like, Mom, you eat so slow. And you're like, I'm enjoying my food. Okay. Do you eat slow, Josh?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:51

Yes. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:52

I eat slow because I enjoy my food. I enjoy that food. And that's what Priscilla did.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:56

No, mine was like, haha, I still got food in my ear.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:59

It's like it's the same amount of food, but you're still eating while you're they're watching you, and like, and so me and Maddie will we're just gonna eat because we we're hungry or we'll eat and we're going and we're knocking it down, and we're we're waiting for mom because mom's still clowning away with that lobsters and whatever uh the the we've got a lot of.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:14

And it was mostly like when my older siblings would help prepare meals and stuff like that when my parents were working or whatever. Yeah, there was definitely not enough for like seconds, yeah. But when my grandma was in town, my aunt was in town, or my mom. You're like all I can eat a little fast, they would make food and we would just eat and eat and eat, and then that that's where I kind of got a little husky grandma because my Awe would say, I mean, I can walk home in. I'm like, okay, I'll take some. I mean, I can't eat that.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:42

I think I ate fast because my dad's a construction worker, and so we would all eat together, and so we would all yeah, and so he was eating fast, so we would try to keep up with them. So every single one of us eats super fast, except my little sister. Yeah, but we all eat super fast. Her and Josh are always the last ones on the table eating because Tawny used to eat with me too.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:01

Because she would eat like seconds and thirds. She kept eating with them.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:04

Now that they're now that they're really sorry, so they eat fast over hardness now. Now they chow it down.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:08

And we always ate at the dinner table. Like I remember that mostly growing like older as we got. Like, I started to notice that we sat at the dinner table. We ate. My mom was always the last one to sit down because she wanted to make sure everyone was fat and sure everyone had a meal. And my dad's traditional, so her his plate was there first.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:26

I love going to eat at your parents'. Oh, I know you do.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:29

And I think you already mentioned it on the show, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:08:31

That's we didn't we didn't do that at our house. Our house was like, my mom got home cooked, and then you eat when you're ready to eat, and we relax. And then we would eat, and then usually like our dinner dinner, like before it was like a bowl of cereal or something, and then watchable. And then when I got uh to go over and eat at your house, it was always like sit down. And I was like, Why? I'm gonna go make I'll go serve myself. Like, no, sit down. I was like, my dad didn't eat like her dad were like, You better serve his plate. And I was like, Oh, I can get it. He didn't say like that. He didn't say like that. That was my mom mostly. It was expectations.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:00

Are you gonna like serve his plate? I was like, he can serve himself.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:03

No, no, go serve his plate. Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:05

At first, I was like, nah, I'm woman him roll. He can do it. He was taught to do his own laundry.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:12

Yeah, I did it on my own.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:13

But now my mom, again, they're traditional, and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna people please, right? Peacemaker.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:18

Like, come get my plate, I'm done.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:21

You would do that to me too, right?

SPEAKER_06 1:09:23

In the beginning, because well, my mom has changed because at first she was like that. Now, like my dad served his own plate. It was hilarious. We were at our house yesterday, and my little sister was there with her husband, and my mom's like, You're not gonna serve you know, her husband, and she's like, No, he can serve himself. And I was like, Mom, this is 2026. Like, we do not serve here, and then I see my dad getting his own plate. I was like, Did mom serve you? And he's like, No, and she goes, because I don't have to.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:52

Real quick, real quick. I wanted to say you brought up the fact that you wanted to be something when you were younger. It was something I always wanted to do, and I wanted to be a cook. I just never had the drive to do it. He's a very good cook. But I've never had the push, also. And I wanted to say if I had somebody like Isabel as a friend in my life back then, I was younger growing up. I probably would have been worse than.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:15

Yeah, Chef Gordon.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:16

I wouldn't I wouldn't have been just a plumber.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:18

I would have been not just a plumber.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:20

I'm just a plumber.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:23

That's what I don't know if the audience knows, but I think everyone in our group loves to cook. We love to cook. Yeah, we're in our and our. We keep telling them to open up food truck. Our significant others appreciate that we have some some good qualities there. We love to cook. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:39

My love hangles. They get down in the kitchen, and every single one of them, like they they when they talk about food, it's like we like we grilled honey buns in that time. We had a wagoo brisket one day, and then we had wagu fajitas the other.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:54

When we grilled honey, like everybody grilled honey bun, like don't knock it to you dry.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:58

So I'll say this uh one of my big dreams when I was little was to be an attorney. Aww. Um that makes sense.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:05

Makes total sense.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:07

I recently won a case. Woohoo! Woo-hoo! It was a smog. Uh, there was attorney alone. The the plain and vision show, and they're like, all right, you guys won your case. I was like, what?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:19

Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:20

This is gonna be my drive.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:23

Oh my gosh. Hopefully, it all happened like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:27

It's never too late. Yeah, never too late.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:29

No, it's definitely never too late. But no, I showed up.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:32

Hey dude, I will be your sous chef if you need me to.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:35

I will change careers. And I I think about that too sometimes of okay, I've been with this company and plumbing for 20, I've been with the company for 20 years, but I've been plumbing for 26 years. And it's like if I get out, I gotta start at the bottom of everything else. And it's just gonna suck. That's the scary part. That's gonna be hard.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:51

But is it worth the risk?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:53

Right now, no. Yeah, right now, and that's the way that's the way I see things is I can't just get up and move and do what I want to do because I've got other things to do.

SPEAKER_06 1:12:02

He needs like a backup plan to the backup plan to the backup plan.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:06

That's a scary thing to do, a big like that's a because precisely I was like, Yeah, you should do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:10

Well, there's yeah, there's a lot of people that just get up and just I quit this job because I'm gonna go do this.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:14

Okay, so you can't do it. But now you have a family to think about. Yeah, I don't just and that's always in the back of my mind. Yeah, like my parent, my mom and my dad are in the back of my mind, you better get a job, you better have security. Like, I just can't risk it. Like, I would love to just do what I want to do, but is that checking to be there every week? No, like and I lived that life for a little bit.

SPEAKER_06 1:12:31

And the funny thing about Josh is like, so he's like that, but when it comes to me, like when I wanted to open my boutique, he's like, Well, I found this, I found that, let's do this. And he would help me on my pop-ups. I told him I wanted to do the podcast, and he's like, Well, I'm gonna gift you the podcast equipment for Christmas. So he always I'm gonna tear up.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:48

I indulge and I I indulge and I get 100% in everybody else's things. Yeah, like she does that. Tristan gets into his fads, and I okay, well, let's get this. You're gonna need this probably. What do you feel about? You can do it right. Yeah, he's like our biggest jerk. Get into I say, look at this and research it and find out which one you want so we can get that. And then I'm also researching different things, and I'm like, Well, I got you this. So yeah, I end up spending a lot more money on everybody else than I do on myself. Yeah. But then again, it's like, well, I don't really need much either. So yeah, it's pretty simple.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:19

I mean, it's a scary jump, you know, and that's what I admire about you, Isan, is that you jump with your endeavors and you're like, I'm gonna do it without fear. And with yeah, I know there's a risk, but I'm gonna do it. Yeah. I always tell you this, I love your consistency, and that's what I lack is consistency. I know I can do it, I know I can put myself out there. But like you said, I need a plan to the plan to the backup plan.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:39

Especially being a Virgo, oh my god, I'm hella inconsistent. I know that 100%.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:44

Yeah. But and being, you know, again from a business uh minded family background, you know, when I when I deviled into that, uh dabbled into that in my real estate days, um, it was scary and it was a huge risk. And it was a hundred percent like on my own, like I I got a generated income. And um I did all of that and I I excelled in it and I was doing really great, and then boom, the recession of 2008 happened. And I needed stability.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:14

I had a family that came into play and I yeah, for a little while, you were the only one that had uh like 95. Yeah, and and that everyone in her family is very entrepreneurial, like everyone has their own their own thing going. It's and it's yeah, that's true. It's admirable. It's admirable.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:29

Because of that experience and needing the stability, I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna get into this corporate world. And you know, shout out to the um to who she's a friend of mine now, Sonya, she saw potential in me, and I didn't have the background that they needed to fulfill that position in um corporate banking, and she took a chance on me because she saw all the things that I was, you know, I I did. And um now 16 years later, I'm like, I feel like I'm on topic.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:58

You are you have a you have a big title, girl.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:02

I mean it is a VP position. Okay, and you're a project manager. Anyone listening, anything is possible.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:11

We're sitting here with some big people, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:14

Josh is a project manager and we have a VP sitting here with us.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:18

And I I I think I think as as we get older, I think the risk is higher. Because now we've like now we like you're like say you're doing great things now, Priscilla's moving on up, and it's hard to like do I give this up and the stability to take a chance and it may or may not work, and then what? So I can't just get back to it.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:35

I fight with that every single day because being in the office, I I've been on a band for 20 plus years and moving into the office, I definitely never wanted to move it to the office because I'm not a corporate person and I hate it. I hate the political side of dealing with well, dealing with just the other people in the office that if I say something wrong, they bitch and cry to somebody else instead of come talking to me directly and say, Hey, well, why'd this happen to you? Like we're on the field, like just talk to me. Yeah, but it's very political, it's political. And sometimes I I feel I'm like, I just want to get back on the truck and do my job. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:16:09

But I'm like, no, but yeah, but straight up with the stuff.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:14

You work to get where you're at, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:16

And I had to learn the art of diplomacy. Look it up. What is that?

SPEAKER_01 1:16:21

What's diplomacy?

SPEAKER_00 1:16:21

It's telling the people in a very way. Telling them to go to hell. It's in a very diplomatic way. The way I was trying to tell you together.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:33

The way she was just yelling at me, but it's not.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:35

They called me very diplomatic at work. I did have to learn it because I was very much, you know, trying to, like you said, like the way they talk, it's like very like in your face. And I'm like, well, I'm gonna do it right back. But because I'm Latina, it sounds a little too spicy. Yeah, so I had to learn and re-like reinvent myself a little bit, and I started to level on up, but I still kept my authentic self, yeah, just a little bit more difficult.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:03

That's what I told Josh. I was like, you're not, I mean, you're not not being yourself, but you need to stand your ground too in a yeah, it's a very like you said, diplomatic way.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:12

Um it's it's a hard navigate, yeah. You gotta navigate through it, but you know, good just to circle back, like man, I would love it. We could just do what we want to do. I think we I think if you wanted to open a restaurant, I would eat your restaurant every day, bro. Like I would go there. We hey that's our that's our that's our own show. I mean, you didn't say ad. You said eat your eat your restaurant.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:36

I want to be I'll do the admin work. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:39

I mean, we can have a podcast, podcast, and barbecue at the same time. They don't know. Me and me. We're about to go eat a biscuit in a minute. So, yeah, you know what? Let's then we'll circle back to corporate speaking.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:51

Circle back.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:52

Let's circle I learned that from you. I learned that from you. Let's circle back.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:56

I tried so hard not to say that. I know that's an ongoing joke at word too.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:00

So would so uh and and everyone, thank you for going on that tangent with us. But so circling back with uh you know being the middle children, um, would you would you say you're closer to your older siblings or your younger siblings? Or is there one in particular or another that you say you gravitate more to? Oh, sorry. No, no, it's your turn. Oh, whoever to start. Okay, well, I'll go that one.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:23

So y'all got those notes, y'all got those nose ready. Like, you go, then I go, then you go. So uh when when I was younger, obviously it was with my younger siblings because I was with them all the time. But as about about 13 or 14, I started hanging out with my brother James, who's six years older than me. And because we just started relating a lot more. And we had well, I I learned music as far as the type of music I like because of them. Yeah, which is what they listened to. Being in Michigan, we didn't have rap or nothing, we had heavy metal. And then when we moved to Texas when I finally heard rap music.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:54

36 Mafia shot.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:55

No, not I've heard MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice was the first rap rap music I had at the time.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:00

My sister was in that video with uh Vanilla Ice.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:02

Oh, I'm oh that's cool. We're gonna have to watch that.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:06

Um so the oh hell lost my transcript. You're closer to your five. You're closer to Star Strike Vanilla. I'm closer to James because we have the similar um interest. Interest, humor, if anything. We say stupid stuff and it just makes no sense, but we both laugh at it. He's hilarious. Um he's a drummer, but he's also a musician altogether.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:29

He does vocals too.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:30

He does vocals too, but um, I used to go with him to his shows uh named Deep Ellen when I was about 17, 18. I was kind of his roadie at the time, and that was fun. Got to see a bunch of his shows and his band and everything. And then the oldest brother, as I got older, older, older, I used to I'd hang out with him. When we got married, yeah. When we got married, actually, or before we started married, married, we started hanging out with him because we obviously started drinking a lot of things. That's David drinking. Yeah, so and David is just so I I always see my brothers as the movie La Bamba, Bob and and uh Richie. That's David and James.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:04

Because David is is the motorcycle party guy and stuff like that, and that's just womanizer, and that's all he does, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:13

Ah, I see his soft side through pictures with the baby now. Yeah, he's a little bit of choice, but he knows he's so good with his opposite.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:22

That's who that's who David is. He's Bob. He was Bob. He's he's older Bob now. But James was Richie, he's always the musician, he loved the music, and that's what he was going for.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:32

Yeah, and he's very talented, very, very talented.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:35

But uh, and you know, just I I as I grew up, they became more relatable than my younger brother and sister.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:44

Um I'd say it was 50-50. You know, um my I was close with Maria, um, especially, you know, as we got older, and uh I just saw her, you know, as my my second mom, and um, I'd go to her for everything, anything that happened, um so and then with my my younger siblings, I felt like their protector. So um, but um I had a good relationship with uh or had a good relationship with Crystal and Chris. And um, of course, Brenda, you know, even though she's um older than me, like we were kind of like the little the little posse together growing up. Um so I guess it's just like a minute, you know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:29

So um do you do you think you had more freedoms or more live different expectations than your older siblings?

SPEAKER_00 1:21:38

I think you touched on it. Yeah, you kind of touched on it, but like Yeah, um the expectations were higher, um, like like I was telling y'all about my stories. Um they they just wanted um us to you know be on a better path. Um I took a little detour, but I came back. Um so you know, with the freedom in a sense that um my sister Maria, she would take me to parties. Oh, she like my parents were like, I don't want you going to parties, but Maria's like, Mom, dad, let me take her. Um and she was like, I don't know, maybe early 20s at the time. Um, and she would take me to the parties, and then she would sit in the living room or in the kitchen and chit-chat with the parents while I'm like bumping and grinding in the backyard party. Um, but no, I mean she she definitely was like there for me to at least have that experience to like go out because I think she she knew like the expectations shifted because of them, so she didn't want us to feel like we didn't have the same opportunities, and she's just a natural mentor too.

SPEAKER_06 1:22:54

Yeah, she's just naturally like even when we first met, like Maria always took us under her wing and like girls, what are y'all getting into? And she's just has that mentor personality.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:06

Yeah. Um, another thing, like as far as like freedoms, um uh they were trendsetters, like my older siblings, like they always like had the latest, like they still are. Yeah, they still are. Um, and uh my sister, like they all listen to like the hip-hop and the Latin freestyle music, and that's where that kind of went into my world of listening to all that. Um funny story. Maria pierced my ears when I was like, oh gosh, I don't know, maybe uh had to have been like um 11 or something. Um she was like, I'm gonna give you a pillow. You bite the pillow and I'm gonna pierce your ears so you have pretty earrings. I'm like, okay. There was no ice cube, it was just a I think she just took a regular back of an earring. Oh my goodness. Yeah. And then at that, it was the dangling earrings, not even the studs. But after she like pierced my ears, I'm like, oh, that looks so great. And I went to sleep like listening to Paul Abdul. She's like, I'll let you listen to my cassette, and I listened to Paul Abdul with my ears throbbing. But my mom absolutely said no to the perm. I wanted a perm so bad because they all had perm. She's like, No, Mihai, you're gonna your hair's gonna fry. I don't want that. Oh, she was smart, she was smart for that because you had beautiful hair.

SPEAKER_04 1:24:31

Good thing she didn't let you do a perm.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:33

Yeah, yeah. So that was the freedoms, I guess, that um I would say that I I I had, and then just the restrictions, my sister was there to rescue me, and you know. That's funny. Cheer me out on it. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:46

So that uh I I I definitely had I think I had more freedom than James, because James was older, so he kind of had to watch us, but also not watch us at the same time. But again, I was just out of the mouth, so it really doesn't matter, yeah. Um, David, like I said, David was in Laredo. I have no idea what he was doing other than partying and doing whatever. Uh but side note, I was about 11 or 12 when my brother James pierced my ear too. No, he just he just woke us up, me and my younger brother in the middle of the night, because him and his friend were uh doing whatever, and they said let's pierce their ears. So they woke us up and uh I I at least got uh a uh ice cube to number two.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:24

You at least got the ice cube. Did you get a needle too? It was a needle too.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:29

Mine was fine. Mine was fine, and I I got a little dangly cross at one point. And then my youngest brother JJ, his his ear got infected.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:39

Oh, that sucks.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:40

He probably did it after mine and used that same thing. Clean your ear. But yeah, they just woke us up and they were like, hey, we're gonna pierce your ears.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:46

Right, they experimented on this.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:47

Yeah, pretty much is what it was. It's like, okay. And see, so like we asked that, like, to say, like, do you think they paved the way? Because I for for me, I think like I I fought for my brother and my sister to do things that I wasn't allowed to do. So I think that's kind of why do you think do you think they did it? I know, but I'm saying, like, but I'm saying, like, do you think they did things like that they think they fought for you? Like, hey, let them go do this, let them go.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:08

Well, Maria took you to the city. She would like you know help me um a lot of the times, and then I would say, like, another funny story. Um, before I get there. So they my so Maria was more of the caretaker, right? Um, and helped me kind of navigate through like fashion trends and boyfriend topics and all that stuff. And then my brother Joe, he was like the tough big brother, and I was like so like I was admiring him so much. And anytime that I had to go into his room, like because I wanted to hang out with my big brother, he's like, You gotta do push-ups before you come in. Yeah, he's like, You have to do push-ups before you come in. I was like, Okay, those are doing push-ups, and then we're like chill in his room, and uh the one song that I remember so much um was Phil Collins.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:58

Oh, that was the Peshman.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:59

No, Phil Collins. Um In the air. In the yeah. Oh, okay. And then I just heard that that drum piece. I'm like, wow, he's like so my brother's so cool. And um, when it came to homework, like I remember it was like second grade. Um I I came to him and I was like, brother, because he did a lot of drawings. Yeah, I was like, brother, I need help with my homework. And we had to tell a story about a frog. And um he took the homework and he did it. Like when you I know teachers know that parents help, yeah, but no, you this was like a little little pamphlet looking thing that you can flip through and it's uh colorful and it's beautiful, and he illustrated it and it told a story, and I took it in as if it was my own. And then my um my sister Melissa, um in uh I think it was sixth grade. I said, Sister, I need help with this uh social studies assignment, and I told Google the other day about it. Um I was like Need help. Um, we have to do research on yada yada yada. Um, and there's like a video we have to watch, and can you help me? Um, and she was like, sure, man. When she helped, she like like she sat there as if it was like a college assignment. Oh, she's like very like she's super intelligent, and she's just like, I got this. And she's like watching the video, and then she's taking notes, and then she um it's like two pages of like what it was all about in her handwriting, y'all, in pen.

unknown 1:28:34

And I took it to school.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:37

And the teacher was like, wow, and she loved it so much. I got into honors.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:45

That's why you got suspended and expelled and cheater or a heathen.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:49

Hey, they wanted to help me, okay?

SPEAKER_02 1:28:51

So they would need to talk to that teacher. That's right. She wasn't doing her job.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:57

She just took it and said, Wow.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:58

She was just like, whatever. This'll work. This will work.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:03

So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:03

So yeah, I'd say they definitely paved the way they definitely paved the way.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:07

Trendsetters and homework assignment.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:12

Like you, I think, like you said earlier, they're just doing what they were doing. I don't know if they were actually trend setting, but yeah. Um, they just did whatever in the end. Uh oh, what did you say? You said something too that my brother also did. Oh, yeah. No, no, no. It was uh he did a little quick little illustration on one of my drawing, one of my homework too. Um it was something about I think it was like maybe fourth or fifth grade. He was real young. I was real young at the time, and I remember him saying, it was um I needed to do something about with stop and go, like a looking at a stop sign and then look both ways. And he he was he's a really good drawer. And he drew the face, the the normal face, but then you could also see the it would be the illustration of the eyes, the head looking both ways. That's cool, and he drew that. And I was like, Okay, cool, so turn that in. We didn't have an idea. We didn't have any eyes doing it.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:03

You guys got nothing in nothing. Who's gonna help me?

SPEAKER_00 1:30:05

My mom, but did y'all do that for y'all siblings?

SPEAKER_06 1:30:07

Like I yeah, we did. I did. I helped with no I helped with science projects.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:12

I I was at my sister's uh teacher meetings. I was like her caretaker at the time. My mom's like, I told my mom, I was like, I'll go to the don't put her in bilingual classes and yes, other kindergartens. Like, I will go to her meetings and I will relay everything back to you. So yeah, I did I did plenty for them. Instead of science project?

SPEAKER_06 1:30:30

Yeah, I would work on their science projects. I drove my sisters around, drill team, volunteered for their drill team things, like yeah. But I'm like sitting here listening to y'all, I'm like, I wish I had tried to be a good idea.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:40

Right, I have no kind of like fashion trends and music. I didn't know what the hell I was doing.

SPEAKER_06 1:30:46

I think uh we were the trends.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:49

Y'all were the trenders.

SPEAKER_06 1:30:52

And that was part one of, and now a word from our spouses. I hope y'all enjoyed it. Um, part two will be coming out next week where we deep dive into our marriage and how the different dynamics and the roles that we play in the family affect our marriages or make it better. Um but yeah, I hope y'all enjoyed this one and can't wait for y'all to hear the next one. Until then, keep your cafecito close, your boundaries closer. And remember, surviving your childhood doesn't make you crazy, it makes you a legend.