Brunette Cinderella (Part II)

Family photo
Photo by: Evelyn Reyes

A couple weeks back, I mentioned that I did a quinceañera photo shoot for the sister of a former classmate at the Japanese Tea Garden. The ceremony was held on April 7 at a church named Sacred Heart of Jesus, located in Von Ormy, TX which is one of the closest small towns to San Antonio along interstate 35.

Since I live about 15 minutes from there down in Somerset, I got ready and I drove to the church. When I got there, Neida, the quinceañera, and some of her relatives were barely arriving.

The rumors about Hispanic families are true. The grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, the list can go on but they were all present at the church. I was surprised that so many relatives showed up and it overwhelmed me. I'm a woman who grew up in a Mexican household and I'm barely close to my immediate family.

Neida was still wearing her light blue dress and cowboy boots while the rest of her family and friends were wearing similar colors. It was a nice ceremony and it was bilingual as well. For a small church, it was nicely decorated.

At the end, I took pictures of Neida with her friends, family and the priest. My family and I were invited for a dinner at her house later that evening. I live about 3 houses away from her.

I went for a while and had a good time listening to the mariachi play and hearing the music of the live band that was playing.

Neida kneeling after giving roses to Mary
Photo by: Evelyn Reyes