In the know.

When resident Idalia Canales heard about Mirador's new friendship with the Antonio E. Garcia Arts & Education Center, family memories came rushing back to her. "That's my uncle!" she told us. "Well, my husband's uncle, but he was really like my uncle too." She recalls the celebrated local artist drawing detailed colored portraits of her three sons, the boys taking turns trying to sit still on a tall stool in the family den. Smaller copies of these portraits hang in her Assisted Living apartment.

 Mirador recently took Mrs. Canales on a special trip to the Garcia Center. Sitting near her uncle's portrait hanging on the wall, she was able tell the staff and children about their center's namesake, with personal little details: "He's skinny in this picture-- earlier in life he had a fuller face. He was a good man. He had two children, a boy and a girl-- my husband's cousins." "He drew each of my boys. Here, let me show you the portraits on my phone." This was a touching example of our elders holding history that just waits to be shared.

 Written by Ely Rhea