Hispanic

So, evidently I looked like a Hispanic man as a youngster.

That seems to be the general consensus and after posting my senior photo there was some discussion about it because I took Spanish in high school, and our great teacher - Mrs. DeMeo gave us Hispanic first names to answer to.

There aren’t a lot of ‘Clifford’s’ Walking around in Mexico, but evidently Cirro is close enough for rock and roll.

My buddy Doug was also in the class and Diego and Cirro decided that we needed full names.

I became ‘Cirro Joaquin Andujar Lopez’ (there was a good baseball pitcher named Joaquin Andujar.

Doug whose given name was ‘Diego’ became ‘Diego Fredrico Hernandez Gonzalez’.

It’s been 44 years since we came up with those names and Diego was the first or second comment on the Facebook post that showed me looking Hispanic.

The above photo is what happens when my favorite artist gets involved.

My head has been on an awful lot of crazy photos (my buddy Jeffy is also a pro at it).

So, there it is.

I do get dark in the summer…

…but I have a less dark complexion than my Dad or my brother, Jim, or even my brother-in-law, Chuck.

My boys once saw a photo of Reggie Jackson from the ‘77 Yankees and asked:

“When did Uncle Chuck play for the Yankees?”

It made me laugh, but it also made me a little sad…

…people with darker skin get crap.

Why?

Been a long time since Cirro was roaming the halls at North Collins High.