Profiles – Eufemio and Carmen Alvarez - NY

Carmen Alvarez, Eufemio’s wife, was as patient and gracious a lady as I have ever met. The Alvarez’s lived in a first-floor apartment in the projects off FDR Drive in Manhattan. Carmen was around 5’8”, taller than her husband, with long black hair, somewhat plump but not excessively so, and a round face that always had a smile for guests. With her six children and mercurial husband she had her hands full, yet she never revealed the least bit of stress or irritation.

Eufemio was indeed mercurial, he could go from zero to sixty in 2.3 seconds leaving rubber on the asphalt. Brother Alvarez’s way of parenting his children was often a matter of increasing decibels; whereas Sister Alvarez brought harmony from cacophony  with a smile and melodious words. If you’re familiar with the clarinet, Eufemio played upper-register notes and Carmen played the middle register, along with occasional lower notes with deep soothing resonance.   

This is not to say that Eufemio didn’t embrace his children and didn’t have a warm smile and cheerful word for them, he often did; but Eufemio was always on the go and when he was home it was to grab a bite to eat, change clothes for that evening’s preaching, and exit the apartment the way Jeff Gordon exits Pit Road during the Daytona 500, the difference being that Eufemio didn’t observe a speed limit. 

Mrs. Alvarez always had coffee for visitors, and if you were there during mealtime you could expect an invitation to eat with the family. This was true of every family I knew in NYC. Hospitality was a way of life for the Hispanic community. Perhaps one of the blessings of a basic diet of rice and beans is that you don’t need to worry about calling up Martha Stewart for a recipe for honored guests; guests know they are honored by the simple experience of sharing a meal – it is in the sharing that we find the substance. After all, the greatest meal any of us can prepare for another or partake of with another is bread and wine. Next to the bread and wine I think I’ll list rice and beans.