The Family’s Move to San Antonio, Texas, separates Pedro, Rosaura, and Roberto from Tita and the ranch. Proposed by Mama Elena as a practical response to Rosaura’s need for medical care, the relocation also carries a private cost: Tita hears that the child she cherishes may be taken away, and afterward loses much of her interest in life.

Background and Decision

During a celebration at the ranch, Mama Elena raised the prospect of sending Rosaura to live with her cousin in San Antonio, Texas, along with Pedro and Roberto. She justified the plan by pointing to the difficulty of obtaining a doctor when Roberto was born and argued that Rosaura would receive better medical attention there. The proposal arose amid the threat of revolution, but Mama Elena maintained that the family’s practical needs—not the danger of political unrest—should determine their course.

Mama Elena had also considered how Pedro would support the household. She said he could work as an accountant in her cousin’s company and noted that his English was excellent. The plan was therefore presented not simply as a temporary visit for medical help but as a move with a prospective means of employment for Pedro.

Tita’s Response and the Separation

Tita heard Mama Elena’s announcement and experienced it as an immediate threat: she could not bear the thought of Roberto being taken away from her. Her distress was sharpened by the affection she had developed for the child. At his baptism, she had helped prepare the feast and commissioned earthenware dishes bearing his name; although Roberto was the son of Pedro and Rosaura, she felt immense tenderness toward him.

The family did eventually go to live in San Antonio, Texas. After Pedro, Rosaura, and Roberto had left, Tita’s attention narrowed to feeding worms to a helpless pigeon. She had lost interest in nearly everything else, to the point that the condition of the house no longer seemed to matter to her. The departure thus changed the emotional life of the ranch as well as the family’s residence.

Consequences and Significance

The move exposes a conflict between the family’s stated practical reasons and Tita’s intimate attachment to Roberto. Mama Elena’s argument centers on medical care and Pedro’s employment; for Tita, the decisive consequence is separation from the child she loves. The relocation removes Pedro, Rosaura, and Roberto from the household, while leaving Tita behind in a state of marked apathy.

In the wider story, the event makes family movement a source of both security and loss. The proposed destination offers Rosaura access to better care and Pedro a possible job, yet the same plan breaks Tita’s daily closeness to Roberto. Its practical rationale does not lessen its personal cost.