About
My Dad, Greg Padilla, is the oldest of 9 siblings. He immigrated to the United States from Zacatecas, Mexico when he was 21 years old, Mexico so that he could work and send money back to his family.
Listening to the stories of my Dad’s life are so entertaining because there are so many times when he was blessed with good luck.
He told me once that when he was traveling to the United States he met a friend that was also migrating and they didn’t have any food or money along the way. Then they met an older lady that helped them because she said that her son was also traveling and hoped that people would treat her son the same way.
My favorite story was how he met my Mom. He was supposed to meet a girl at a dance and the girl stood him up, which allowed him to meet my Mom instead. Unfortunately, my Mom’s parents didn’t approve of my Dad when they found out he was from Mexico because one of my Mom’s younger sisters got into a relationship with a guy from Mexico and it did not end well.
The story of how my Dad finally got my Mom’s parents approval is amazing. When he met my Mom he worked as a janitor at a clothing store called Beall’s. He would always help an older lady at work move heavy things and one day she brought him tacos to thank him for his help. They became friends and it turned out that she was the wife of the Mexican Consulate in Austin, Texas. My Dad had told her about my Mom’s parents not liking him because he was from Mexico, so the lady arranged a dinner so that she could tell them what a nice guy my Dad was. This persuaded my grandparents to allow my Mom and Dad to get married.
Since then Mom and Dad have been known as "The Sweeties". Last year they celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary. They are a perfect example of Love — always doing nice things for each other and always calling each other "Sweetie". The Sweeties have 3 children, 3 grand-daughters, 1 grand-son, and 1 great grand-daughter.
My Dad worked for Beall’s for many years, eventually becoming a manager. Everyone that knows my Dad recognizes him as always dressing in button-up shirts and dress pants, even when he’s cutting the yard or painting the house. I guess working at Beall’s taught him to always look his best. Once he retired from Beall’s he went back to work as a janitor at Parkside Elementary, where he is known as Mr. Greg.
There’s a ton of people out there that know my Dad as “Weeto”. This nickname came from his first grand-daughter, Selina. My Mom used to babysit kids for a living, including her grand-daughters, Selina and Sidney. The spanish word for "Grandpa" is “Abuelito”. Selina couldn't say Abuelito, so she called my Dad "Weeto". The name stuck, all of the other kids that my Mom babysat called him Weeto too, even though he wasn't even their grandpa. The parent's of the kids would even refer to Dad as Weeto.
My dad found out he had cancer the week he was going to retire from Parkside Elementary. They were sad to see him go, but we were happy that he was finally going to have some time to do projects around the house and spend time with my Mom. Little did we know that he would be diagnosed with cancer the same day of his retirement celebration.
Now this is our new reality and we will be keeping you posted on how we overcome this challenge together.