As we begin our first story, we invite you to join us in our search for our beloved "nuestros muertitos". You'll find that the story of the search will mention many individuals from the past and we hope it is an innovative way to help you find or recognize clues to someone you've been missing from your family tree. Because, after all, they may be your muertitos, too. I think that we, el padre and I, share an inner feeling that somehow, somewhere, they are all looking down on us from some heavenly arena, all together, the found and the yet to be found, strolling together, charlando and laughing while others play dominos and canasta and copas (especialmente nuestra 'buelita) and the air is full of the aroma of arroz con gandules, pasteles and lech�n (you know they have to have that up there!) and every once in awhile, one of them will smile and their eyes will twinkle as we come ever closer to finding them in some musty, forgotten old tome.

And then......, someone will glance down from "MUERTITO HEAVEN" and give one of the primos a nudge and he will pass it on until they are all nodding their heads knowingly, pleased that somewhere, someone, you and me, mentions their names and their lives have really meant something and that they have not been forgotten like some lost souls stuck in the in-between land of the before discovery and the nearly discovered. While in the background, you can hear the strumming of a guitar (Pedrito Crespo) accompanied by the gentle hum of a harmonica (Tio Tan) and the soft beat of the timbales (nuestro querido hermano, Chanto) and then el gallito de T�o Tana will rustle his feathers and stretch his head up to the heavens crowing raucously from his roost as their whispers and mutterings grow ever louder and louder as the word finally gets around. We can only imagine the undertones of pride and happiness as they murmur approvingly in one voice.......................