The school year of 1971-1972 was one of the most positive pivotal points in my life. It very well could have been disastrous. I was 16 years old and my siblings and I had lived in a middle class neighborhood on Magnolia Street in Amarillo, Texas my whole life. I spent my summers at Thompson Park going swimming and hanging out at Wonderland. I had gone to school with the same kids since elementary school. But school desegregation in the 1970s marked a pivotal, turbulent shift for most of the United States. Black students were bused out of their neighborhood and they were very unhappy being transferred to Palo Duro High in our neighborhood and rightfully so. My friend Regina's parents sent her to Alamo, the private Catholic high school. That would have been my preference so I started skipping school and going to school with her. Nobody seemed to mind that there was an extra kid in photography class. My parents, irritated by my shenanigans, decided to take me to Puerto de Luna, New Mexico to live with my 88 year old Spanish speaking grandmother, Rosita Valdez Padilla. She was a blind widow who lived on the family farm. That was a disaster waiting to happen. Why would they do such a thing, you might ask. To show me how difficult my life really could be. Much to my parent's surprise, after 2 weeks, they drove 170 miles to take me back to Texas. But I didn't budge. I'd made friends who ultimately became life long friends. My teachers loved me and I loved the farm life in my parent's little home town of Puerto de Luna, even though the heyday of the community had been in the early 1900's. My Uncle Gilbert and Aunt Rita lived next door with their 8 lively children and life was a new adventure. Grandma lived with her 2 bachelor sons, Uncle Jose and Uncle Mac, who were both characters. I can honestly say it was one of the best years of my life.
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| Christina in Distributive Education Class |
Santa Rosa High was a beautiful 12 mile drive down a winding road along the Pecos River in a school bus. The first day I went to the cafeteria for lunch, I was served pinto beans, potatoes, green chile and a tortilla. It was the first time in my life I had eaten a traditional New Mexican meal outside of our home or the home of relatives. My thought was "I Am Finally Home!" Many years later, while doing ancestry research, I discovered that many of my new friends were related to me because our ancestors had lived in that small community for many, many years. In fact I discovered years later that my grandfather, Ascension Padilla had given land to his female first cousins so they too could have farms and my mother really didn't like the idea of me living there because she was afraid I would unknowingly marry a cousin. I laugh about that now but it's true.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, that same year of 1972, 34 year old Rudolfo Anaya published his landmark debut novel, Bless Me, Ultima. Winning the prestigious Premio Quinto Sol literary award. It's widely regarded as the most widely read and critically acclaimed novel in the New Mexican Literature Canon. The cornerstone of contemporary New Mexican literature was a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story written by a cousin about Puerto de Luna, Santa Rosa and Pastura, New Mexico during WWII in the 1940s. I didn't read the book until I had seen the movie. It's told from the point of view of Antonio Márez y Luna as he navigates cultural, religious, and moral challenges with the mentorship of an old revered curandera (traditional spiritual healer) who comes to live with his family. She was known as Ultima.
It reminds me so much of going to live with my grandma that year and learning the same lessons that he learned from Ultima but I was learning from a whole community of people I felt very connected to. Rudolfo gave the main character the last name Marez y Luna honoring his mother's last name. Without going deep into my family tree, I am related to Rudolfo Anaya and Ultima, AKA Anastacia Lucero Bonney. A dear friend of mine, Jasmine is Ultima's great great granddaughter. She's had a store in Santa Rosa, NM called "Casa de Ultima" for a few years but I think she is closing. She sells her homemade herbal remedies and soaps at farmer's markets in Las Vegas, New Mexico and she always takes the Ultima doll that I made for her and displays her with her goods.
Rudolfo was a huge inspiration to me. He passed away in 2020 and I am so happy that he didn't leave this world with his stories still inside of him. I saw myself in his stories and it gave me permission to tell my story. I write my blog to keep my very unusually rich New Mexican family story alive with my son Christian and my brother Phillip always being my biggest cheerleaders. Christian said to me once "Mom, you don't even know how many times a week I brag about the work you do, researching our family history and writing our story." It warms my heart to know that he understands how important it is. If I die without telling the stories, our history dies with me. Before my dear brother Phillip pasted away, he would remind me that I am the keeper of the stories and the family history. Before me, my mother was the keeper of family history and her mother was the keeper of her generation. I feel honored that their Curanderismo was passed down to me. I realize now that is why my grandma Rosita always had a constant stream of people coming to her house to listen to her stories.
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| My Mom and Grandma Agnes Padilla Fajardo and Rosita Valdez Padilla |
Ultima, AKA Anastacia Lucero Bonney died August 15, 1954, 9 months before I was born. Since I don't believe energy dies, I've always hope that some of her healing power was sprinkled around on the incoming souls. My grandma Rosita died a year before Adriane was born so I named her Adriane Rose for the same reason.
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