From Megan Ambriz...

Dominic ... my big cousin. I remember when we were little and ourfamilies would come together every few weeks for dinner at Nana'shouse. I can recall eagerly walking up the drive way to the side ofthe house where we entered through the kitchen, never knowing as alittle kid that the proper entrance to a home is through the livingroom. The smell of good Mexican food penetrating our noses and soundof a family coming together. I remember Amy always wanting to comband fix my hair as though she were preparing for motherhood. I canalso remember Dominic, the only boy surrounded by his big sister andthree female cousins, trying to find something to do that was not"girly."

There are a few family dinners that come to mind when I think of mybig cousin:

The first one is when Dominic came up with a game for us to playoutside one night while the adults were inside talking about "bigpeople" stuff. I remember he wanted to play a variation of hide-and-go-seek. I believe it was called "go gettem" or something of thatnature. I remember all of us hiding and Dominic was the one that was"it." I can still picture him jumping over the big BBQ pit in Nana'sbackyard to chase after one of us. I can recall secretly looking upto him as my big cousin and thinking that he was so cool that nightfor coming up with such a great game.

The second family gathering that comes to mind, is when someone wantedto take a picture of all of us in Nana's kitchen. I believe that thiswas one of the last family photos that we all took together and it isstill on Nana's refrigerator to this day (I will try to scan it in apost it on the website ASAP). It was so long ago, all of us gatheringin the kitchen to eat and converse. I bring this short story up, notjust because we took a family picture, but because after reading allof the blogs, I have come to realize that gathering with close friendsand family to eat and reminisce is still something that Dominic enjoys.

My Big Cousin ... Dominic ... I have so many memories ... too many to fit into just one blog. So I must conclude, that Dominic has alwaysbeen an inspiration to me whether it was looking up to him as a kid or as an adult.

FIGHT ON!!!!!