Back in 1970 I turned 15 years of age.

At that time many of my friends were having these huge birthday parties and my sister and I were invited to be part of them. They were called Presentations, not Quinceaneras yet, but were the same thing. Neither my  mother's family nor my father's family had  celebrated that way as it was a custom for girls whose family had some money and social status. So I was told. My parents did not come from money nor social status, they were both born in California and had worked in the cotton fields as teens. Neither of them appreciated the farm worker "status" or rather stigma that all Mexicans (incliuding Mexican Americans) had if they had done farm work. They moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in what is now Silicon Valley or San Jose. My mother gradutated from high school in 1954 (which was unusual for a Hispanic girl in those days) and my father had been in the Marine Corps during the Korean conflict (which was not unusual for a Hispanic guy in those days). Both of them spoke English perfectly as well as perfect Spanish. I was brought up to speak English but had to speak Spanish to my grandmother as best I could, which was not a perfect thing at all. Most of our customs were taught to us by our parents and those were mainly religious customs. All other customs we absorbed from our relatives and friends, such as making tamales and tortillas, dressing the baby who would become a Godchild before baptism and having a Presentation.

I just learned that, back in the 70's, times were very hard financially for almost everyone. My parents both had jobs and had a home they were buying at that time so I am guessing they were better off than a lot of other couples. The thing was, they had 7 daughters they were also raising and that was a very expensive thing both then and now. Not all of us had a "Presentation" except me.

It was one of the highlights of my life to this day. My parents were only about 35 and 36 when they gave me this huge fabulous party. They invited 5 of my best friends to be included, so 6 of us shared that day as "Quinceneras". There were also 15 other girls and 21 guys who were part of the party. My mother arranged everything after working all day long in an semiconductor/ electronic plant. That day was full of excitement and food and dancing and of course an early mass. Almost my whole high school was there and it was an event that gave me and my friends status as "rich girls" for a minute. My mother told me once how much her and my father had spent on the party and the amount was huge for those times.

When my own daughter turned 15, I asked her if she would like a "Quincenera" or if she would prefer to go to modeling school (by the way that is where I went at 16 years of age)? She decided that "modeling school" would be better for her in the long run...she did not see the value of a Quincenera in 1999.

My life was really a dream as a 15 year old and I really listened to the priest that morning of my Presentation. He said to me and my friends that this was a time to reflect on the love and the wonderful gifts we were given by God and our parents and to try our best in the future to become good women and good examples for future generations of girls. We were "blessed and presented" to our family and friends as the"Quinceneras" (birthday girls).