Shish Kabob

Meynardo and Lourdes Mendoza were the epitome of the American Dream. Immigrating (legally) from the Philippines during the Lyndon B Johnson era to America with nothing in their pocket except their medical degrees. Heck, they didn't even know each other yet when they began their residencies at that small hospital in Queens, NY. They were terribly homesick for their families, friends and culture but they knew that their success meant that their poor families back home would survive. Eventually Meynardo Mendoza would meet Lourdes Arquiza during their shifts at the hospital. They quickly fell in love and got married. Lulu (Lourdes nickname) soon became pregnant. Mey (Meynardo's nickname) was overjoyed with Lulu with the thought of the birth of their first son in America. What would the name the boy? They didn't want their first born to feel out of place at school with a typical Filipino first name like Carlos or Mario. They wanted a typical American name. One day while Mey and Lulu were at a greeting card store, they saw a rack with minitature license plates displaying childrens names on them. Presumably to be put on the back of a new bicycle. Thats when they saw it! "Melvin". Mey was a huge fan of 40's and 50's music as well the movies from the same period. Melvin was the first name of show business trifecta Mel Torme who acted, sang and composed. "Melvin Mendoza, what a great name"! they both agreed. Mind you, this is New York in the 60's. Melvin was far from being typical especially later on in little Melvin Mendoza life. Mey and Lulu started acheiving success in their medical careers and decided it was time to leave their little one bedroom basement apartment in Jamaica, Queens and head to the country life of Long Island (well, it was kinda the country in the early 70's). They bought a new construction 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath home in Suffolk County with plans to move their own parents from the Philippines in with them. They purchased the home for $30,000. It was a normal tradition for the grandparents to move in to help take care of the grand children while the parents are working. As Melvin began nursery school (pre-school) he quickly learned that his name definitlely did not blend in. The neigborhood that his family moved to was mostly of Italian and Jewish families. "Hi, my name is Melvin" was usually followed by snickering and laughter. "What? Your name is Smellvin"? many of the kids would joke. The next question was always "Are you Chinese or Japanese"? Unfortunatley, most kids at that time had never heard of another country named Philippines. Melvin had a hard time making friends back then. Who wants to play with an Oriental kid with a werid name. Then it happened. An unassuming extremely thin boy with thick glasses named Abe said "I'll play with you" Melvin and Abe found an empty table full of Lincoln Logs to build an imaginary fort. Little did they know that this friendship would eventually span over 50 years. Later that evening, Melvin walked into the kitchen. Lulu and Lola (grandmother in Filipino) were placing large amounts of beef peices into a large pan to be marinated over night for Shish Kabob for the weekend barbecue. All the relatives that immigrated after Mey and Lulu were roadtripping from Queens to Long Island for one of many Mendoza back yard get togethers. Melvin was excited to tell about his new best friend Abe. Before he could get the word out, Melvin's mother said, "All your Tita's (aunts), Tito's (uncles) and cousins are coming in this weekend for the barbecue to celebrate that your going to have a baby brother and he is going to have an American name just like you! His name will be Maynard!

That weekend, Lulu's famous beef Shish Kabob filled the air with an aroma not familiar to the local neighbors. It was as if it were an invitation to peek over the fence into the Mendoza back yard and introduce yourself. The relatives came in that weekend. They ate, they drank (San Miguel Beer), they sang and they even danced to celebrate the coming of another Mendoza. In typical fashion, the barbecue moved into the house for more drinking and dancing. Most of the relatives slept over until Sunday. Kids slept on the floor, adults slept on couches and spare beds. Upwards of twenty people could be in the house overnight and it never felt crowded. It was family. As the relatives began leaving the next morning, tins of left over Shish Kabob were given to them to take home. And as they drove off back to Queens, a new season of stories full of adventure and lessons were about to begin for two boys with the typical names of Melvin and Maynard.