Nelda Pérez
Haga clic aquí para leer el artículo en español
By Natalia Otero
Everyone who visits El Toro restaurant in La Porte, Texas asks for the Tex-Mex classics and for Nelda Pérez.
This January 14, Nelda Pérez marks 44 years working as a waitress in the restaurant. Eugene Ybarra and his wife Alice opened the first location in 1960, and a few years later, Nelda walked through the doors of El Toro.
Since then, she knew that working at El Toro would be her only job, because she felt at home. When she started, the Ybarra children were teenagers, today they are the ones who run El Toro.
“They are a wonderful family to work for, I consider them as my own family,” Nelda says. “Since I joined, I have not had to look back, always forward, counting on their support, through thick and thin.”
Nelda is a cancer survivor. In 2017, she was diagnosed and, after years of struggle and courage, last month she received the news that she had gone into remission. If it wasn't for the support of the Ybarra family, her fate may have been different.
Living Life to the Fullest
Nelda has a son and a daughter and a granddaughter, and what she likes to do with them the most is cook. Her specialty is tamales.
But, her life does not only revolve around gastronomy. Because of the challenges that Nelda has faced, she is convinced that life must be lived to the fullest every day. Following her adventurous soul, Nelda often rides her motorcycle and discovers all kinds of landscapes with her husband.
It is thanks to her desire to live and her good attitude that Nelda dazzles everyone she cares for.
“When customers walk through those doors, they are the blessing God sends. And it makes me happy to see people come, go and come back, while I'm still here,” she says.
El Toro VP of Operations and Pastor John Mayes says he would love to have thousands of "mini Neldas." "When God made Nelda, he broke the mold," Mayes says.
Nelda plans to continue working at El Toro as long as possible, and each year she reaffirms that working there is a blessing. Nelda's perseverance and charisma also make the presence of this legend a blessing for El Toro.
Natalia Otero is a freelance writer based in Bogota, Colombia.