Today is always such a great holiday for me. It has the excitement that Christmas or New Year's brings. The main reason is the gifts of freedoms and the blessings I ponder each year for the sacrifices made by my beloved ancestors.
They were all pioneers in their own right. Some came from foreign lands to start lives anew that their own home land did not offer them at the time of their emigration. About ninety-five years ago, my grandfather, Ricardo came into the United States with his young wife and almost one year old daughter. The all three arrived here on American soil sometime in February, 1916.
The war of the Mexican Revolution made my grandfather leave Mexico and was not involved in the civil battle engaged by the factions of the government versus Pancho Villa. It was not my grandfather's destiny to remain in the country and struggle through until it became settled among the two groups.
I am forever grateful for Ricardo's tenacity to seek a new home for his small family and find work anew in a strange country that he did not even speak the language. He quickly learned and developed his trade and became a leader with the company he chose to work for in San Antonio, Texas.
My grandmother, Maria had a miscarriage and was unable to travel upon their arrival to the train station in San Antonio, Texas. Ricardo saw a tall smoke stack of the Permanente Cement Company and decided to try his hand in seeking work until he could earn the money to go to Arizona to work in the silver mines. He tentatively had a job there, and had a companion, George Howatt, a former widower and who married, Ricardo's cousin, Delores, aka Lola Ulloa. Ricardo ended up working for the cement plan and remained there in San Antonio. He made his life's work there and was a great contribution to that industry.
George was also traveling to Miami, Arizona to work in the mines there. He went on and settled there with his small family. Lola was a school teacher, very beautiful and educated, from Guanajuato, Mexico. However, his career was cut short with his death about ten years later. His family stayed in Arizona, and his daughters became educated and taken care of by the men at the mines. His daughters were, Guadalupe, Gloria, and another one who I cannot recall her name. I will have to think and look for her name.
Nevertheless, Ricardo and Maria faced many challenges in their lives and had many more children, after Consuelo, i.e. Ricardo, Jr., Carlos, Celia, Emma, Elena and Alicia Rodriguez. My grandmother had another son, whom she named, Carlos, but he died as a new born the year before my father was born. He is part of this story in the family constellation. They lost little Emma from pneumonia at almost three years old. I was able to find her birth and death certificate and her in my research.
I am so thankful to live in America and being raised by goodly parents, who loved me and always wanted the very best for me. I have been able to get a great education as well as my children They are productive citizens in their own lives. My ancestors would be pleased.
I know it is because of them and their sacrifices that I have the blessings in my life at this time. I am most grateful for them and all they experienced.
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