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Rudy Aguilar, her nephew, used to call his Aunt Belarmina by her nickname, Tía Mina. She was the second oldest of 10 siblings. During family parties, the house was already packed even before friends showed up. Tía Mina met everyone at the door with fresh pupusas, which are handmade cornmeal patties stuffed with beans, pork and oozing cheese, a classic Salvadoran dish.
And when the cumbia or bachata started to blast through the speakers, Tía Mina was the first person on the dance floor – but dancing alone was never an option.
“She would take us each one at a time and try to get us, so we'd always joke, ‘Don't make eye contact, Tía's coming, Tía's coming!’ and we would try to push each other out to go dance with her,” Rudy remembers.