Grandma’s Gift

By Eric Velasquez

       
      “Grandma’s Gift” unfolds during the holiday season as Eric spends time with his grandmother in El Barrio in New York City. As part of the annual Christmas tradition, the boy’s grandmother makes her famous pasteles, a special Puerto Rican dish.

After a trip to the La Marqueta to get the special, fresh ingredients (pumpkins, taro root, green plantains, green bananas, and potatoes) for the pastels, it is time for Eric to help make the pastels.

Once they are finished, Grandma then takes Eric to the Metropolitan Museum of Art so he can do his holiday homework, which is to do a report on a special, new painting on display.

Grandma and Eric are astonished to see the painting is a portrait of a famous painter, a former slave and assistant to Diego Velazquez named Juan de Pareja.

The visit sets up a special gift that Eric’s grandmother then decides to give him for Christmas so that the boy can pursue his interest in creating his own art.

Using both English and Spanish in the narrative, this special Christmas story is the prequel to “Grandmaa’s Records” and is taken from an actual event in the author’s life.