Uncle Chalo

When I was a child I lived with my mom, my sister and my dad in a pretty house in Bogotá, Colombia. My sister and I have a lot of uncles and aunts, but one of our uncles that I most remember was my Uncle Chalo. His name was Gonzalo but everybody called him Chalo. He was the eldest son on my father´s side of the family and he lived with his family in Miami, Florida. He was tall, had black hair and a good sense of humor, as did my dad. Besides that, he had two sons about our age, and he worked in his own company of curtains and blinds.

When he visited us he used to give us presents like Barbies or super cool toys, and we played with our cousins since my mom and dad had a good time with him and his wife. One time he helped us to apply for visas to the United States because we wanted to go to Disney Land and it was a complete success. We had a wonderful time. I think that was one of my favorite trips in my life.

On my father’s side of the family, he had the most authority and everybody asked for his advice. Over time, we saw each other less and sometimes when we talked about politics or social situations in Colombia we had differences, but we loved him a lot. Unfortunately, he died from a heart attack about two years ago, but I remember him well because he was one the uncles that we cared about most and he was an inspiration to some members of the family.

~

Ania - Colombia