WHY THIS DAY OFFERS A SPECIAL BIT OF INSPIRATION

It’s that time of year in San Ysidro when Casa Familiar celebrates a tradition that marks the end of the holiday season and the beginning of another year of service to San Diego’s border community. Three Kings’ Day celebrates the visit of the three wise men, Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar, to a newborn child laying in a manger in Bethlehem. Their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, respectively, revealed to the world the birth of a king, the infant Jesus. For Casa Familiar, it is a day of tradition that reaffirms San Ysidro as one of San Diego’s unique communities.

As a consultant to Casa, I have had the pleasure of participating in several of its Three Kings’ Day celebrations. This year, with the pandemic mercilessly exploiting poor residents in communities like San Ysidro, I thought about why it is important that different people of different faiths uphold their traditions, safely, now more than ever. Traditions teach lessons that make us special, and it is now that we most need to rely on them, with pride and optimism, to persevere. It just so happens that there is a special bit of inspiration for all of us, regardless of one’s faith, race or ethnicity, tucked away in the tradition of Three Kings’ Day.

This year’s Casa Familiar Three Kings’ Day celebration will take place five days later on Monday morning. It will be a drivethrough. It will be different, but Casa will continue its tradition of giving books to the children of families participating in the drive-through. This tradition does more than support a culture of reading and education as a means for San Ysidro’s youth, many of whom would be the first in their families to attend college and to rise out of poverty.

It comes at a time when the youngest among San Ysidro’s students are isolated, separated from friends and teachers in the classroom and falling behind in their learning more than students in other communities. There is comfort in the gift of reading. The younger the child, the more that reading becomes a family endeavor between younger and older family members forced to shelter at home. They grow closer and momentarily retreat into reading to escape the anxiety of isolation of the pandemic.

Every year, I am witness to the tradition of three young and brave Casa volunteers who suit up in wise men attire to pass out books at the annual event. Masks are now part of that attire now, as they pass out copies of Beatrice Zamora’s “The Spirit of Chicano Park/El Espíritu del Parque Chicano” at the drive-through. This children’s book tells the creation story of Chicano Park and the many extraordinary people who contributed to it and its murals. In a time of uncertainty, the story of Chicano Park reminds San Ysidro’s children that they are part of a larger and proud community of people in San Diego. They are not alone. It reminds the rest of us of the singular importance of art and culture in understanding the rightful role of one’s heritage in the cultural patchwork quilt of San Diego and a healing nation.

Like millions of Spanish-speaking people across Latin America and Spain, I have been a willful participant in the traditional rosca de reyes (kings’ bread) and hot chocolate served by Casa to the families of San

Ysidro on Three Kings’ Day. There will be no rosca de reyes and hot chocolate served at this year’s drive-through. Instead, the drivethrough will be the first of Casa and the San Diego Food Bank’s two monthly food distributions in a community that even in normal times is among San Diego’s highest in unemployment.

Yet, in the tradition of the rosca de reyes, there is a beautiful wisdom that defies the pandemic. Hidden in the rosca is a tiny, plastic baby Jesus — el muñequito — which one lucky family member is sure to discover. In the Mexican tradition, el muñequito bestows on its finder the privilege of hosting a future dinner for everyone else. This year, in the absence of the rosca de reyes at Casa Familiar and regardless of our faith, race or ethnicity, we can all heed the lesson of finding that tiny, plastic baby Jesus in our pastry.

We can all make good on the tradition and privilege of serving others, especially those who need help the most, in 2021.

Villegas