In 1956 I was living in Mexico City. I was madly in love with Grace Kelly. I was 14 years old.

In 1951 a dark blue 1950 Lincoln parked outside my home in Buenos Aires. In the car were two men. One of them was the Minister (not yet an embassy) of the Philippines Narciso Ramos. With him was a young man in an American military uniform.

Ramos was my grandmother Lolita’s boss and he had developed a liking for me. They were picking me up to take me to a game featuring the Harlem Globetrotters. I was introduced to the young man. It was his son Fidel and he had recently graduated, (1950) from West Point.

In 1957 Fidel’s sister, Leticia Ramos came to Mexico City to take a course at the University of Mexico. She stayed with us. Because she knew of my feelings for Grace Kelly she invited me to go and see Charles Vidor’s 1956 film The Swan with Grace Kelly, Alec Guinness and Louis Jourdan at the then very beautiful Cine Roble (now gone).  Ramos bought me a large bag of pistachios. I ate all of them. I became very sick when we got home.

It was not until the early 90s that I again tried pistachios in the form of pistachio ice-cream in Vancouver. That led to me forgetting how sick I had been and I can now state here that I am crazy about pistachios but I buy small bags as I eat them all at once (I do the same with grapes and cherries).

My oldest daughter Ale when she visits us from her home in Lillooet she always brings me a bag of pistachios.

Recently I have discovered this most luscious variant of pistachios. They are sweet chilli pistachios. I have purchased this particular bag as a Christmas gift for Ale. My Rosemary does not believe me when I tell her I will not open it.

Leticia Ramos married and became a Philippine senator, Leticia Ramos-Shahani. She died in 2017.
Her older brother, the West Point chap was the 12^th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998.

It is impossible for me to eat pistachios without remembering the three protagonists above plus one more, Grace Kelly.