Family Reunion for my Grandfather

My grandfather Cornelius turned 90 a few days ago, and it was the biggest event in my family since the birth of his first great grandson. I wanted to take him on a trip, but he didn’t want to be sitting inside a car for hours, and he’s terrified of planes.  That’s why along with my seven cousins, I plotted to take him in a proverbial journey through the places he wanted to visit.

The thing that I must tell you about my grandfather is that he’s a strong man. After divorcing his first wife and falling in love with my grandmother, he took in my grandmother’s kids and along with his, he formed a big family. He gave them his last name and raised them as their own, showing them that with hard work and constancy no goal was impossible to achieve. All that while managing from scratch a transportation business for companies, that’s still running, working as great as it was when he was the boss.

His will is the most important thing I’ve learned from him, to stay true to my wishes, to think big and go for it. Since I’m his favorite grandchild, it was my sacred duty to honor all those years of effort. It was important for all of us, since without him, we wouldn't be here at all! We took the planning seriously, it was our top priority.  

He’s a calm person, and we knew that taking him to places where we couldn’t talk over the sound of music was a no-no. At the end, we decided to take my grandfather to a brunch with the closest family members, after that my mom took him with her to buy his outfit for the night so he was distracted from the main surprise. At that point of the day, he got extremely suspicious, but he was grinning from ear to ear regardless.

The fact that he had a huge Mariachi Sombrero hanging on his bedroom was the hint I needed for setting up the last place of our celebration day. A family dinner at a Mexican restaurant, one that was like my grandfather: Traditional and calm. With that in mind only one place came to my mind: RG Cocina Mexicana. When I approached them, explaining the reason for my reservation, they were in with me. The staff was as excited as I was. “Turning 90 is a HUGE DEAL! We’re on it!” one of them told me, and I couldn’t agree more. I took his Sombrero from his bedroom that day, and put it on the table. When he entered the restaurant, his face was priceless. His steel blue eyes looked at us, and he opened his mouth in surprise. He even cried a little, but he wouldn’t admit it, I can assure you.

The menu they have was perfect for the night, the food was amazing, one of my aunts might had a bit too much of the cocktails. But I have to agree with her: They were delicious! And I even tried to sing my grandfather’s favorite Mexican tune, failing terribly. We had a great time. The fact that we brought his brother and his nephews was the cherry on top. It was a night to remember and I’m happy to say that RG Cocina Mexicana made it all possible with us. After this, I’m seriously considering making my parents wedding anniversary lunch there too. Maybe we’ll get my grandfather to sing his favorite songs at the event!

RG Cocina Mexicana address is 314 72nd ST, Miami Beach, FL 33141. Their phone number is: 305-4647404