I have not had the inclination to blog for several days. So in my incessant need to finish something, I took the time to crochet a Star Quilt afghan, while trying to process too much information. You know like when you have to step away from a very intense labor of love? Genealogy is my labor of love to my family. But sometimes----????!!! overwhelming.
Isn't it amazing how a family tragedy ripples through the generations? I speak specifically about the fire that took the lives of my uncle & aunts in 1927. The newspaper account is so full of holes. The fire was set on Sat, the children were buried on Mon. I visited their grave side. Nothing but barren dirt marks their graves. I consider it an unsolved crime. It's common knowledge that the fire was set by a hateful, cowardly, stupid man.<----my description. And, "flames were shooting up from the house." Right. It was an adobe house with a dirt roof.
Cynthia took me to the scene of that fire. She was shown by her grandfather, Tio Alfredo, where Grandpa Julian's house sat bordered by the Acequia Madre. Cyn also said that the huge cottonwood tree had burn scars. I could see the tree but not the burn scars because the ditch road is now a walking path. Am hoping to go back there to take a picture of the tree soon.
Tia Maria survived that fire with multiple injuries. She eventually married Johnny Gallegos & gave birth to a daughter Nieves G Gallegos. Nieves was born 10/2/1943 & died 11/8/1943, as recorded in Florenia's bible, another treasure, by Auntie Alice. I'm certain this Nieves was named after the Nieves that perished in the fire. Maria had a stroke sometime after this, or, maybe during. The marriage fell apart because, "Johnny couldn't deal with an invalid," per Auntie Alice.
Earl told me that his mom(Florenia) would tell him to go get Maria. Earl would take a chair with him because Maria could only walk a few steps & would sit . This was how she would eventually make it to Florenia's house. She remained fiercely independent until her death 10/1/1951.
My heart ached for relatives I never met but are spoken of with a great deal of love & sorrow by other family.
I met with Earl, Uncle Eddie, Cyn and Veronica during the past week. Have given everyone Family Group Sheets to fill in so I can add descendants to our tree.
Am still puzzled by the document by Elesta stating that G-grandfather Jose died "about 1902". About? Mi raza. Anyway, went to San Felipe de Neri church in Old Town to get a copy of Jose's death record. But was told that the record was more than 100 years old & stored in the Archdiocese Archives in Santa Fe. Was so intent on this record I forgot to get a copy of the 4 kids. Of course, the day I went to the church was by far the hottest day this year. Had to park 5 blocks from the rectory office. This will be a reason to take a road trip to Santa Fe & possibly visit Agua Fria for Mora information.
Uncle Eddie has a little vegetable garden in his back yard. Almost made me want to live in a house again. Nah. Too much work & time at this point.
While at Cyn's we went through more records in Elesta's petaca (antique trunk) that is described & bequeathed to Cyn in her mother's will. I found a Quit Claim Deed signed & dated 3/11/1931 by my Grandpa Julian, Tomas, Alfonso & Fermin. What treasure! Their signatures along with a description of the land.
Even though I had to step away from family history, did meet my kids, granddaughter & sister for meals. Yummy Dim Sum, BBQ, Blooming Onion & steak, Olive Garden. Plus a trip to Coldstone for a much needed finale to the last meal of the week;)
The "plan" for the coming week includes more family visits, scanning documents & pics, getting a new passport, & filing, reviewing, organizing & proving history records. Hopefully visits with those I haven't had the chance to see yet. Also have tried to contact my Tio Tomas' daughter for pictures. She still lives across from the elementary school that most of us attended. Duranes Elementary. My Mom, me, Sis, kids & granddaughter all went to Duranes. My 2nd cousins twins are attending school there now. So from my Mom to the kids now is 5 generations!
Friday before last, a neighbor in Duranes passed away. I have known Eusebio most of my life. Have known his wife Pablita all my life. Monday Sis & I went to visit Pablita to express our sympathy. AND, the greatest thing happened. Pabla kept us there for 2 1/2 hours! During that time several of my old neighborhood women friends aged 40-77 showed up. Some of them thought my Sis is my daughte;)) We visited, shared memories of family interactions, kids, grandkids, and some of the old neighbors who have passed on. And promised to visit each other again. At the funeral Tuesday we saw a neighbor who is 86 years old & is going to visit Auntie Alice. This woman, Pola, is tiny. Maybe 4'8", & still gets around like she's 60. She found out that I was taking pictures of the neighborhood & told me to take a picture of her house & her daughter's house. Her daughter lives in the house Pola's father built. I was blessed to be born into a family whose roots go deep there. In fact, Duranes, which now is basically in the middle of Albuquerque, was listed as "the Village of Duranes" or "the Community of Los Duranes" in early 1900 Census records. I would move back home in a heartbeat. But I cannot afford to live in the neighborhood where I grew up. Small, tiny actually, houses are going for 159k+. Don't want to work that bad.
I also got to visit with some "boys" that call me Scotty's Mom. Hard to believe these boys are 40-50 years old.
I got to chat with friends from Deming. Very uplifting.
Heard about the 5.2 earthquake in southern NM. Now almost the whole state will have 100+ heat for the next few days. Probably rain on July 4.
And the healing continues. But my hip STILL HURTS after one year & two weeks post-op. See a new orho surgeon soon.
I hope your weeks are filled with truth, courtesy, and God's abundant blessings.
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