For Walter Rivera, home is not defined only by a place. It lives in the people who raised him, the lessons they passed on, the smell of coffee, and the memories of growing up in El Salvador that he continues to carry with him.
As part of Stories That Take Us Home, our Hispanic Heritage Month series, Walter shares how his family shaped his understanding of love, perseverance, kindness, and the importance of making your voice heard.
The Story I Carry
When Walter thinks about home, one of the first people who comes to mind is his grandfather.
“My grandfather was my father figure throughout my life. He was always there.”
His grandfather’s life was defined by hard work. He was a builder, worked on farms, picked coffee, and built a home for his family. But those occupations are not what Walter remembers most.
He remembers the everyday moments.
His grandfather would stay awake with him while he finished school assignments. When Walter began attending university in another city, his grandfather traveled there with him simply to make sure he knew the way.
One photograph captures that relationship particularly well. Walter is about one year old, sitting with his grandfather as the two play with hats.
“He was many things throughout his life, but to me, he was, and always will be, my dad. My grandpa. The best one I could have had.”
His grandfather passed away five years ago, but Walter still finds reminders of him in unexpected places — including the smell of coffee.
Coffee was part of his grandfather’s life, from picking it as part of his work to enjoying it as part of everyday life. Today, its familiar aroma can bring Walter immediately back to those memories.
What Shaped Me
The story of home, however, does not belong to only one person.
Walter grew up surrounded by a family that, in different ways, helped shape the person he would become.
His grandmother, whom he calls “Mamá,” taught him strength. She also taught him that emotions matter and that his voice deserved to be heard.
His mother, a teacher who continues educating new generations, showed him the importance of perseverance, respect, and kindness. Beyond language or English, Walter believes one of the most important lessons she has taught is one that cannot be found in a traditional curriculum: keep pursuing your dreams.
His younger brother, nine years apart from him and now preparing to become a doctor, taught him something different — the importance of having fun, being present, and growing from siblings into friends and companions through life.
Looking back, Walter also understands something about his childhood that he could not see at the time.
There were moments when his family had very little. But as a child, he never knew it.
What he remembers instead is being loved.
Behind that childhood were a grandfather, grandmother, and mother working, sacrificing, and creating a home where difficulties never became more powerful than the love surrounding their family.
What Home Means to Me
That family story is inseparable from Walter’s understanding of his Salvadoran heritage.
For him, El Salvador is more than the country where he grew up. It is found in family, perseverance, humor, hospitality, and the ability to continue moving forward even after difficult moments.
It is also found in the small things: animals that become part of the family, conversations around the table, the smell of coffee, and, of course, sharing pupusas.
“El Salvador has experienced loss and difficult moments, but there are also so many smiles and beautiful memories. We are strong people, but we also have kind hearts. There is almost always someone ready to invite you in for coffee — or a pupusa.”
Living away from El Salvador has not meant leaving those things behind.
They continue to influence how Walter approaches his work as Social Media Curator for the Episcopal Diocese of Texas and how he tells the stories of a diocesan community made up of people from many different backgrounds and experiences.
The people who raised him taught him to listen, to respect others, to work hard, to speak up, and to recognize the value of the person in front of him. Those lessons now travel with him wherever he goes.
Perhaps that is what heritage ultimately means to Walter.
Home is not simply somewhere he can return to.
It is something he carries with him.
