MOSAIC: voices from Polson High School

Welcome to MOSAIC!

Character Sketch: Ellie Costilla

Most people never realize how important some one is in their life until that person is gone. One of these kinds of important people in my life was Grampa, who died June 5, 2007.

Grampa was an old Mexican who grew up in Uvalde, Texas. His first language was Spanish so he always spoke with an accent and when he got mad he would curse in his original language. He had dark skin and white hair surrounding a bald spot. Whenever he was surprised or if someone came over he would always say “Anae” which to this day we still don’t know what it means.

After school Grampa had always had hotdogs or some other snack fixed for whoever came over and got after us when no one did. He was a good cook, specializing in Mexican food (the real stuff, not store bought). He would spend the day cooking rice, beans, and tortillas just to get someone to come over. If just his grandchildren were over, no matter the age, he would immediately switch the TV from the usual Westerns and Wrestling to cartoons.

Another one of the things that was important to me was Grampa’s love of plants. At Grampa’s house there were lilacs, roses, and a vegetable garden containing tomatoes and peppers. While he was sick he didn’t have the strength to tend to the vegetable garden so I convinced my family to take care of it. When Grampa heard of this his face lit up and whenever we were working on the garden he would sit outside to watch us and would tell us how deep to plant a carrot seed, or what to do for an expected frost.

I never realized it until after, but Grampa always kept our family together. We would always have a barbecue for every summer holiday. My aunts and uncles use to come to Polson to see us at least once a month from Missoula and West Glacier, but after his death everyone separated. My Aunt immediately moved to Washington. The last holiday, Easter, remained clear of the usual egg hunt and barbecue.

Losing such an important person in my life hasn’t been easy and moving on is still difficult. I still cry from that emptiness that can never be filled again. I will never forget him.

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