Billy the Kid in Puerto de Luna - Part Two

I am hoping that one day my family's story will become a book. It makes it all that more interesting when you have a character like William Bonney woven into every corner of the story in the 1880's when Puerto de Luna was a lively community. I only wish my mom and dad were alive so they could see it on paper. 

As I mentioned, William Bonney spent a lot of time at the Grzelachowski General Store. When I was 16 years old, living with my Grandma Rosita, there was a small store/gas station next door to what used to be the Grzelachowski General Store called "Mercado Coronado." 

I have thought of making
a piece of art that looks like this,
with just a little crescent moon

My first cousin Percy Padilla and I worked there on the weekends. It was a light green, 2 roomed adobe building. We sold gasoline to the locals and there was a pool table in one room and in the other room were a cash register, shelves of canned goods and candy, a refrigerator full of generic sodas.  There were the regulars who would come by to put their quarter on the table to take their turn at pool and another quarter for a soda. I had not a clue what had taken place in that very location a century before. I would have asked a lot more questions of the old men that came in for cigarettes and gas. Bobby Gerhardt (my second cousin) was one of my favorites. He was a tall, blue eyed rancher with the a golden farmer's tan. He always wore a grin and joked with everyone he met. He spent evenings at my grandma's smoking cigarettes and drinking a cold one with with my uncle Jose Padilla out on the screened in porch.

 

The memory of Bobby Gerhardt's nightly visits took on a new light when I realized William Bonney had also spent time on a ranch just down the road from Puerto de Luna in Los Ojitos. The ranch was owned by Dr. John Gerhardt, a German immigrant born May 23, 1830. He and two of his brothers were from a family of twenty children. I am guessing they were looking for a better life when they landed in New York before he moved to New Mexico. He lived in Fort Sumner for a year working as baker-pastry maker, the profession for which he had been trained in Germany. He then bought a ranch in Guadalupe County and spent the remainder of his life as a rancher and physician. John was the only practicing doctor in the vicinity. I remembered stories of my Grandma Rosita Valdez Padilla's older brother Hilario Valdez being married to Dr. John Gerhardt's daughter Katie, They were married in February 1900. Hilario was the Gerhardt Ranch foreman for many years prior to marrying Katie Gerhardt. Later Hilario and his wife Katie had a ranch in Los Ojitos and my Grandma Rosita Valdez Padilla and my Grandpa Ascencion Padilla had an adjoining ranch. I'd heard the old folks speak of all of these characters my whole life but didn't pay much attention to the Spanglish (half English and half Spanish) conversations and private jokes that they had shared for years. 

Oddly, when I started doing the research I adopted a cat named Katie and then another named Rosita. It wasn't planned. It felt like it was a little private cosmic joke on me from the Universe that they came with the names of my grandma Rosita and her sister-in-law, Katie. Often, as I drank tea engrossed in my late night research, I imagined the sister-in-laws, Kate and Rosita, cooking posole together as they tended to fire in the wood burning stove and the children playing on the dusty wooden floors of their adobe houses while their husbands, Hilario and Ascencion worked the ranch. My grandparents later moved to Puerto de Luna because the ranch in Los Ojitos was flooded.

Los Ojitos Ruins more than a century after the flood

I found the following information on a New Mexico University Department of Anthropology website:

The rural community of Los Ojitos in Guadalupe County, New Mexico was settled in the late 1860s by a few families who filed homestead claims on public land just north of the Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation. The availability of land along the Pecos River appealed especially to Hispanic farmers and ranchers, some of whom looked south for new territory as a wave of American immigrants pushed into what is sometimes called the “Hispano homeland” in northern New Mexico. The site’s proximity to Fort Sumner/Bosque Redondo was also a factor; the first homestead claim in the area was made by a former soldier, John Gerhardt, and the fort purchased local meat and produce until the reservation was abandoned in 1868.

 

The Hispanic families who settled Los Ojitos were part of the first generation of Hispanic homesteaders in New Mexico. Many of these founding families came from Spanish- and Mexican-era land grant communities where grantees shared the rights to common lands and the responsibility to build and maintain irrigation ditches and other public structures. In contrast to the Spanish community land grants, the American homestead acts provided a mechanism for granting plots of land to individual families. The original version of the act in 1862 provided individual applicants with uniform, 160-acre parcels of land (some with access to water, many without) on which they were expected to establish self-sufficient family farms. In order to receive title to these lands, applicants were required to build a residence, improve the land for agriculture, and remain on the claim for at least five years.

 

Los Ojitos grew from a handful of homesteading families in 1870 to dozens between 1880 and 1910. Most of these families owned sheep or cattle or else managed livestock for other, wealthier families in the area. The heart of the community was a stretch of small springs (“ojitos”) that emptied into the Pecos River, providing clean, sweet water for the residents, their animals, and the subsistence gardens they maintained. On occasion the community was served by a small general store or a rural, one-room public school, but for most services (including church services), community members traveled by horse, wagon, or (in later decades) automobile to the larger towns of Puerto de Luna, Santa Rosa, or Fort Sumner.

 

New Mexico was finally admitted to the Union as a state in 1912, five years before the U.S. entered World War I and seven years before veterans returning from that conflict introduced the Spanish flu to the region. War, disease, and economic depression hurt the community during the early twentieth century, and many of those who remained in the late 1930s were forced out by the construction of a large reservoir downstream. By the mid-twentieth century, the site was abandoned.

 

The primary goal of fieldwork at Los Ojitos was to explore the impact of changing land tenure rules on these first-generation Hispanic homesteaders by looking at how their settlement and land-use practices shifted (or didn’t) from traditional strategies employed on Spanish land grants. Fieldwork at Los Ojitos included detailed documentation of architectural features, limited survey and surface collection, documentation of rock art, and excavation of test units in and around residential features included within the original Valdez and Ronquillo land claims. Most of the artifacts recovered from domestic contexts dated to the peak occupation of that community (1880–1910), with smaller numbers dating to the continuing occupation of the settlement between 1910 and 1950.

Needless to say, I have spent many late nights researching my family history. It took me years to piece together information which  was immensely important in a collection of the 1880, 1890 and 1900 census records. All of these census documents were filled out by my 3rd great-uncle, Lorenzo Labadie. Fortunately, since he was related to many of the people in the area, all the information was extremely accurate. These documents gave me not only the timeline for the family history but a birds eye view of the the closeness of the small community that my mother and father's families lived in.

In the wee hours of the night while doing research, I felt like I came to know Lorenzo and grew to love and respect him as a person. He was a key player in helping me piece together my family history. Our family history. Because of Lorenzo's accurate accounts of my family a century ago, I have been driven to do the same for my children, grandchildren and all my other relatives that will live long after I am gone.

Lorenzo was described as a handsome, honorable man who wore many hats. He was the grandson of my 4th great-grandfather, Dr. Dominique Labadie, an immigrant from Gascony, France. Lorenzo married Rayitos Giddings, a beautiful blue-eyed 14-year-old called "one of the fairest daughters of the territory," in February 1852. Rayitos was just as colorful in her own right. She was raised and educated by her great aunt, Maria Gertrudis Barcelo, AKA Madame La Tules, an intriguing, free-spirited woman who dominated Society in Santa Fe. She was known as one of the best professional gamblers in New Mexico. Rayitos later became a well known doctor. On the day of their wedding, as a wedding gift, Lorenzo received a commission from Governor James S. Calhoun as colonel of the territorial commission. In 1851 he was the Sheriff in Valencia County where he served 3 terms. Like his friend Kit Carson, he was a sympathetic and a loyal friend to many of the Native Americans. In 1855 he was appointed as a U.S. Indian Agent and served for 15 years. He gained respect and confidence seldom obtained by the Native Americans as an Agent. Under his watchful eye, the Native Americans worked side-by-side with soldiers, damming the Pecos River to irrigate crops, planting trees, and building a slaughter house. They had 94 gardens spread over a 100 acre area and grew melons, pumpkins, chile and green beans. He was removed as an agent because he protested against the Native Americans being furnished unwholesome food by the government.

Lorenzo was also the Post Master of Santa Rosa from 1884 until 1898. In 1885 he signed a petition to get Rifles for Puerto de Luna. On February 2, 1893 he won a case against Celso Baca for cheating on the Election for seat on the 30th Legislation Assembly of New Mexico as representation for Guadalupe County. Lorenzo was elected. On June 29, 1896 he wrote a letter concerning the Agua Negra Land Grant. Juan Patron, his son-in-law who had been killed, owned part of that land grant.



Page 2 - June 1 and 2, 1880
Census Taken by Lorenzo Labadie
Santa Rosa, NM

So without the census that was recorded of 1880, in Santa Rosa, Puerto de Luna, Los Ojitos, Cedar Springs and Ft Sumner I would just have some scattered stories. However, on June 1 and 2, 1880, Lorenzo recorded the census of Santa Rosa which included himself, his wife Rayitos and their children including Beatriz and her husband Juan Patron. (There's a book called "Juan Patron: A Fallen Star in the Days of Billy the Kid" Juan was a hero of the the Lincoln County War and was killed at a young age)


Page 22 - 1880 Census taken by Lorenzo Labadie
Ft Sumner, Cedar Springs and Los Ojitos

On June 17 and 18, 1880, he recorded Charles Bowdre, Manuela Bowdre and William Bonney. The two men stated that they worked in cattle. On the same page John Gerhardt and his family are listed (my Uncle Hilario's wife not listed because she wasn't born until 1882.) It took me over a year to find the next page of the census showing that on the next day, June 19, 1880 he was in the home of my Great-Grand Grandparents Febronio and Maria Valdez recording the various details of their home and 6 of their children (my grandmother wasn't born until 1884)


Page 23 - 1880 Census taken by Lorenzo Labadie
Puerto de Luna



The census for Puerto de Luna 1885 above shows many of the residents of Puerto de Luna. My Great-grandmother Dorotea Chavez is shown to be the wife of Juan Labadie y Sanchez, my great grandfather. My grandmother Josefita Labadie wasn't born until 1894. My Great-grandfather died in 1898, when my grandma was only 4. This is interesting because my grandma died when my dad was 3. Anyway, on this census there is a boarder at the home of Alexander Grzelachowski named Antonio Montoya. He married my Great-grandmother Dorotea Chavez after Juan Labadie y Sanchez died.

Lorenzo Labadie was also the census taker in 1900 in Puerto de Luna. This was probably the most important discovery of all for me on my journey to discover my father's past. My father's name was Felipe Montoya Fajardo. We were always told that my paternal grandmother's last name was Montoya, I never knew her since she died when my father was 3 of the Spanish Influenza.


1890 Census taken by Lorenzo Labadie
Puerto de Luna

On the 1900 Puerto de Luna census, Lorenzo recored Antonio Montoya as head of household with wife Dorotea. I thought I had hit the jackpot, finding my great-grandparents but with further examination, I saw that the six children were listed as step-children to head of household, Antonio Montoya. The children's last names were listed as Labadie. That was when I discovered that my grandmother Josefita was in fact a Labadie not a Montoya and this started my long journey down the Labadie branch of my family history. My great-grandfather Juan Labadie y Sanchez died and my grandma, Josefita and her siblings were adopted by their stepfather Antonio Montoya. I've often wondered what kind of relationship Lorenzo had with Dorotea, his deceased older brother's widow and mother of his nieces and nephews listed as Montoya's stepchildren. On the 1880 census Antonio Montoya was not yet married to Dorotea and and working at the Grzelachowski General Store.

Lorenzo died on his birthday, August 10, 1904
In Puerto De Luna, New Mexico.

Billy the Kid in Puerto de Luna - Part One

In 2014 my friend, Danny Santos sent this song to me that he had written about Billy the Kid. It prompted me to compile written documentation and photos that surrounded the life and times of Billy the Kid, as it pertains to my family history. Working on my genealogy and learning about these characters has been fascinating. Thanks for sharing your song with me Danny!

Billy he rode that New Mexico line

There was no truer friend of mine

There was no truer friend of mine

Billy Fandangoed and loved the ladies too

But to only one heart was he true

But to only one heart was he true

(Chorus)

Outlaw with notches on his gun

Outlaw were more than twenty one

Outlaw but when his days were up

Billy the Kid died for love

Billy he laid sheriff Brady in his grave

To honor a promise that he made

To honor a promise that he made

Billy he busted his Lincoln county chains

To see his senorita again

To see his senorita again

(Chorus)

Billy rode to Puerto De Luna that night

To Paulita's casita to hide

To Paulita's casita to hide

Billy yelled quien es who goes there my friend

A pistol his answer did send

A pistol his answer did send

(Chorus)

Listen to Bob Dylan - Pat Garret and Billy the Kid

Billy the Kid's legend parallels that of such ancient rogues as Robin Hood. In my personal history books, his actions have been condoned and his loyalty to the Hispanic community of New Mexico is treasured in affectionate memory. My personal favorite story is that of William Bonney teaching my Great-Uncle Hilario Valdez how to speak and read in English. Until recent times, I thought that happened when Hilario was an adult. After a couple of years of research, I realized William Bonney was about 20 and Hilario was about 7 and they lived on neighboring ranches. That makes him an even more endearing character to me. You can always trust the innate instincts of children, cats and dogs to gravitate towards the kind hearted souls to hang out with late in the evening, when the work day is done.

"Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid," the movie, was released in 1973, the year I graduated high school in Amarillo, Texas. The previous year, as a high school junior, I lived with my 90 year old grandmother Rosita Valdez Padilla in Puerto de Luna, New Mexico. PdL, as the locals call it, is located on the Pecos River 12 miles southeast of Santa Rosa,NM. It is hard for me to grasp that my grandson Dylan had just finished his junior year in high school in June of 2014, when I started seriously trying to piece together the parallels of "The Kid's" life and that of my ancestors in New Mexico. Yes, my grandson is named after Bob Dylan, partially because "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" was one of my favorite movies and albums. I was touched on a level that I couldn't explain. I listened to the album day and night and watched the movie a hundred times. A very young, handsome Kris Kristofferson played Billy the Kid and Rita Coolidge played his girlfriend and they to me, were very cool. The sound track is still hauntingly beautiful to me. I actually fell in love with someone once because he danced with me in his kitchen to the soundtrack on our first date. Now Townes Van Zandt's "Pancho and Lefty" is my grandson Dylan's favorite song and even though the song isn't about Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, the story is similar. One of my favorite Willie Nelson movies is "The Red Headed Stranger" so I have this deep-seeded belief that the memory of those days in Puerto de Luna is a memory that my grandson and I carry in our DNA. It seems that we live in a parallel Universe and it bleeds over into our reality on occasion.

One evening in 2014, I was looking for a green chile recipes on the internet while my cats Katie and Rosita played on the floor at me feet. I started my search with "Hatch Chile" and the thought what the heck, I should search "Puerto de Luna Chile." It's a pride thing, sort of like having your favorite football team. My family has been growing "Puerto de Luna Chile" for generations. One thing lead to another, finding out that "Hatch Chiles" and "Puerto de Luna Chiles" are basically one in the same - Anaheim Peppers. While wine lovers celebrate wines from different regions, for whatever reason, the hot days and cool nights and red dirt does wonders for the flavor of the chiles in New Mexico and until recent years most grocery stores sold Anaheim peppers from California and Mexico. Now at the end of every growing season, every HEB and Central Market in Texas has a "Hatch Chile Festival." So....an hour or so into the search, I forgot about the chile recipes when I discovered that an autographed tintype photo of William H. Bonney was being auctioned for millions of dollars. The tintype is believed to have been taken in 1873 in New Mexico when he was 14 years old. The article said that researchers believed Bonney had a crush on a young girl named Dona Valdez, who took food to him when he was in the custody of Sheriff Pat Garrett's jail in San Miguel County, N.M.

The back of the 2" X 2" photograph

bears a faint engraving reading:

"To Dona Valdez  Love, William Bonney" 

This peaked my interest because my Grandma Rosita's maiden name was Valdez and according to my cousin, Davy Delgado, Dona Valdez was probably a relative. After much research I realized it couldn't have been my grandmother because she wasn't born until 1884 but I thought there might be a chance that it was her older sister Carmelita.

It's a well known fact that Billy the Kid spent a lot of time in Puerto de Luna, the thriving County Seat of San Miguel County, NM in 1880. There were an abundance of sheep, cattle and horse ranches occupied by my maternal and paternal ancestors. There were gardens, apple orchards and vineyards along the muddy waters of the Pecos River. The gathering place was the Grzelachowski General Store, owned and operated by Alexander Grzelachowski, (Gre-ze-la-hof-ski), also known as Don Alejandro or Padre Polaco. Everyone in New Mexico obtains a nickname, especially if you have a surname like Grzelachowski.

Grzelachowski General Store, Puerto de Luna, NM

Grzelachowski General Store, Puerto de Luna, NM

Alexander Grzelachowski  (Don Alejandro)

Don Alejandro was a big blue eyed, bearded, hospitable Polish immigrant who had been a Catholic priest before settling in Puerto de Luna in 1872. He married Secundina Cabeza de Baca and they had eight children. Their daughter, Leticia Grzelachowski was married to my Great Uncle Adecasio Juan Padilla, my maternal grandfather Ascencion Padilla's brother. Both Pat Garrett and William Bonney frequented the Grzelachowski General Store and Don Alejandro had instructed the store clerks to allow Bonney to take whatever supplies he needed without interference. My father's step-grandfather, Antonio Montoya, worked at the Grzelachowski General Store.

Grzelachowski died in 1896
of injuries suffered when he was thrown
from the wagon he was riding
on the way to his Alamogordo ranch.

After spending a year in Puerto de Luna in high school, it had been a dream of mine to invest some time and money in the tiny community to bring it back to the glory days of the 1800's. Puerto de Luna, approximately ten miles south of Santa Rosa, held the county seat for Guadalupe County. Santa Rosa was smaller than Puerto de Luna until 1901 when the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad was built through Santa Rosa from the east, quickly followed by arrival of the El Paso and Northeastern Railway in February 1902, from the southwest, thereby creating a transcontinental connection. In 1991 my parents along with several hundred people attended the the unveiling of "The Grzelachowski General Store Historical Marker" in Puerto de Luna. I was hoping a surge of artist would discover PdL at that time and move away from the over priced Santa Fe area, but nothing ever came of it. I was busy raising 2 children in Austin, Texas.... dreaming of someday returning to New Mexico.

Pat Garrett

Pat Garrett and William Bonney were friends of the Grzelachowski family. Bonney loved visiting Don Alejandro because he spoke at least six languages, including fluent Spanish. He told stories about Europe. Bonney attended the dances at the Grzelachowski General Store and Garrett was known to often stop by the store to talk and eat dinner. Grzelachowski is best remembered by historians as the Puerto de Luna merchant who served Billy the Kid his last Christmas dinner. December of 1880 was a bitterly cold in New Mexico. Bonney was being transported to jail in Las Vegas by Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett, the lean, tough, 6-foot-4-inch sheriff of Lincoln County.  He was nick named “Juan Largo.” He and his posse arrived at Grzelachowski's General Store on Christmas Eve, 1880. They rested their horses in Puerto de Luna that day while defrosting themselves with mesquite fires and whiskey. On Christmas Day Grzelachowski served Christmas dinner. Bonney was sentenced to be hanged on May 13, 1881 but he escaped.

On July 14, 1881, Garrett told his deputies that he had killed the Kid. Some historians have questioned Garrett's account of the shooting, alleging that Billy the Kid was never shot. There has been much dispute over the details of the Kid's death. There were also popular stories that Garrett and Billy had once been friends, and that the shooting was a kind of betrayal. Legends persist that Billy the Kid was not killed that night, and that Garrett staged it all so the Kid could escape the law. Although Garrett was trying to help the community, most people in the area saw him as a villain for killing a favorite son.

Billy the Kid  Video- by Joe Ely

Happy Second Birthday Jackie!

Click Here To See Jackie's Birthday Video!

The Election

Eleven days ago on November 8, the unthinkable happened. A man who has never held public office or has never even had to apply for a job became the President Elect of our great country. He was not endorsed by any major newspapers, he wasn't endorsed by any ex-Presidents. He didn't win the popular vote, meaning most Americans didn't even vote for him. So what went wrong? Yellow journalism. Plain and simple. The type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate researched news and instead uses eye-catching, sensationalized headlines and photos to sell more newspapers, air time on TV and radio. I don't agree with such tactics but I understand. The media has been scrambling for a few years to figure out how to make money now that most people get their information online. The result of many reputable newspapers going under is a population that has become accustomed to the exaggerated, scandalous, fear mongering and sensationalism that has made reality TV a part of every day life. If you see it, read it and spread the information without checking for reliable sources, you are in fact part of the problem.

During the 8 year Obama administration this type of journalism has been at it's peak. Trump began his political career by jumping on the ‘birther’ movement against Barack Obama in 2008, stating that Obama wasn’t born in the United States and thus was ineligible to be President. Shortly before the 2016 election, Trump finally admitted that President Obama was indeed born in the United States with no apology of the chaos it created. In the aftermath of years of repeated misinformation of this yellow journalism, people still believe this untruth.

Another example is the InfoWars broadcaster and Trump ally, Alex Jones, who claimed that First Lady Michelle Obama is secretly a transgender woman who murdered Joan Rivers to cover it up. The story originated when Joan Rivers, the comedian known for her lack of self-censoring, officiated a same-sex wedding and was asked by a photographer if she believed the United States would ever see a gay or female president. Her response was typical Rivers. "We already have it with Obama, so let's just calm down," she said. "You know Michelle is a trans and Barack is gay." It was a joke! Joan passed away from a medical procedure shortly afterwards and word spread through the yellow journalism via Alex Jones with a very ugly twist. Seriously? Yes. People that I know really did believe this nonsense. If you google the story and it only shows up on sites like Breitbart and infowars, and not on websites like The Washington Post or NY Times, then they need to be reported.

“If we are not serious about facts and what is true and what’s not, particularly in an age of social media, where so many people are getting their information in sound bites and snippets off their phones If we can’t discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems. If we just repeat attacks and outright lies over and over again, as long as it's on social media, people start believing it. And it creates this dust cloud of nonsense.”    ~ B Obama

As for the smear campaigns on Hillary, the yellow journalists have convinced many that she is a congenital liar. When asked what it is she lied about, most people can’t point to anything specific; they have just been programed to think she’s dishonest and corrupt. The fact that she’s been dogged by political enemies and investigated by special prosecutors, the media and Congress with unlimited budgets and every possible means of getting to the truth and has been exonerated doesn’t seem to register. Indeed, the fact-checkers all find her to be more honest than virtually anyone in politics while Donald Trump, by contrast, lies more than he tells the truth. I noticed during the campaign that every time someone said something derogatory about Trump, he would magnify it and turn it around and use it on Hillary.

If Donald Trump were a newspaper, he would be the kind of tabloid at the grocery store that you want to turn over as to not see the cover. The headlines would be huge 72-point type in red and always include words like “Disgusting,” “Huge,” “Loser,” “Slob,” “Terrific,” “Unbelievable,”  “Stupid,” "Nasty," and “Trump!”  Its stories would be written at the reading level of a third-grader, yet vulgar and packed with resentment, hate, envy and fear. Unfortunately, those headlines of the Trump media tapped in to the very angry left winged America who have hated our black president for eight years.

We all have a right to our opinion. It is the job as artists and musicians to use the 1st amendment to entertain, inform, criticize society in whatever form we choose. It is one of the highest expressions of freedom our nation provides and it allows artists to play a role in the evolution of that society. However, if your have a radio show, a TV show, if you are a writer for a newspaper, it is your job and the job of your employer to inform people that what you say is your opinion. NOT FACT.

The First Amendment guarantees freedoms concerning religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition. It forbids Congress from both promoting one religion over others and also restricting an individual's religious practices. It guarantees freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely. It also guarantees the right of citizens to assemble peaceably and to petition their government.

So now we have a President Elect whose relationship with Vladimir Putin is becoming more alarming by the minute. There is now a "Make the World Great Again" billboard in Russia with a photo of Trump and Putin on it. I find this alarming. Why is this not the front page story in every newspaper or the lead-in to every news broadcast? Yesterday Trump was able to settled out of court on a fraud lawsuit for $25 million for his Trump University scam, and it is a tax write off for him. The man he has chosen as his chief strategist is a man who is a known white supremacist, Steve Bannon. This is without question an absolute worst-case scenario.

Meanwhile, it seems that Mccarthyism has returned in the form of Trumpism, trying to blacklist anyone that speaks out against him. Today the media is covering Brandon Victor Dixon addressing Pence at a Broadway show and Trump demanding an apology. In my humble opinion we, as musicians and artists have an obligation to speak up against tyranny! Dixon words were respectable. It was a polite message about love and diversity. A message about respecting all Americans. He read his words from a small piece of paper to Pence after the show while cast members held hands:

“We, sir — we — are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights,” he said. “We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us.” ~Brandon Victor Dixon

Please watch the video:

Hamilton: An American Musical

Long story short, our country has been duped. He will never be my president. He has no loyalties beyond himself. He displays no empathy or compassion. He learned this behavior from his German immigrant father, Fred Trump, who made his millions as bigoted real estate mogul of New York’s outer boroughs. Woody Guthrie wrote some of his most bitter writings about his two-year tenancy in one of Fred Trump’s buildings "Beach Haven"

Old Man Trump

I suppose that Old Man Trump knows just how much racial hate
He stirred up in that blood pot of human hearts
When he drawed that color line
Here at his Beach Haven family project

Beach Haven ain't my home!
No, I just can't pay this rent!
My money's down the drain,
And my soul is badly bent!
Beach Haven is Trump’s Tower
Where no black folks come to roam,
No, no, Old Man Trump!
Old Beach Haven ain't my home!

I'm calling out my welcome to you and your man both
Welcoming you here to Beach Haven
To love in any way you please and to have some kind of a decent place
To have your kids raised up in.

Beach Haven ain't my home!
No, I just can't pay this rent!
My money's down the drain,
And my soul is badly bent!
Beach Haven is Trump’s Tower
Where no black folks come to roam,
No, no, Old Man Trump!
Old Beach Haven ain't my home!

There is nothing admirable, honorable or honest about him. He has no close friends from childhood. I look at him and there's nothing there to relate to. Nothing.

If you voted for him, you did so with the knowledge of the following and it makes no sense to me.

I have been grieving for my country. We have no idea what we are in for. Now is time for us all to emerge from the darkness and stand together for good, for love and for justice. Do what you can every day on a grassroots level, just as our President Obama has asked us to do from the beginning. It is our job as citizens of this country.

Miracles Appear In The Strangest Of Places

Lana and CiCi - November 2016

I spent the weekend in Dripping Springs at my dear friend Lana Nelson's birthday party. It is always a huge 2 day celebration of music, filming, eating, drinking and reconnecting with old friends. This year was very much needed. I arrived feeling raw after a couple of days of not even getting out of my pajamas. Worried about the future of our country in the wake of Tuesday's presidential election.

After arriving, I started to feel better when I realized that my friends are as concerned as I am. Somehow the solidarity made me feel safer. By the second day I was starting to feel like myself again.

This morning I woke up and I was having a cup of coffee. My norm has changed. I haven't watched TV all week so after meditating, I was quietly reading on the couch. My phone rang, I looked over and caller ID said "Unknown." Needless to say I NEVER answer those phone calls but this morning something told me to answer. The voice on the other end of the line was like an angel with an Indian (from India) accent.

"Hello Christina, this is Dr. Misra." I looked at the clock on the wall. It was 9:00 am. Sunday. Why would my neurologist be calling me? She's booked until next year and was nice enough to fit me in, now she is calling me on a Sunday? Maybe she discovered something more in my MRI. For a moment, I was very confused and a little scared.

She said "How are you? Sorry to call on Sunday morning. I am referring you to a genetic counselor, Dr. Buchanan. He normally only sees children." My brain is racing. He only sees children because... they have only seen all of these anomalies in children that die young? Wait. I am a miracle. This phone call is a miracle. She was rattling off so much information, I was scrambling for a pen and paper to write down all the information she is giving me. I finally asked if she could email me all the information.

She didn't have a clue that to me this was miraculous. I was having a hard time registering that not only had she gotten me in to see her earlier this week, but she was calling me on Sunday morning with the help I have been praying for. My brother and I have at least one conversation a week about  what a difficult time we have had with neurologists and most of them are booked 6 months out. I asked for a miracle but I was looking more in lines of the president elect falling off the face of Earth. This is way better! She also told me that since I have been taking seizure meds for so long (since I was 25) that I need to have a bone density scan. Why hasn't anyone ever told me that?  She told me there is a website called "OMIM" that is an Online Catalog of Human Genes and Genetic Disorders.

Granted, I have been crying all week intermittently with praying for a miracle. I didn't specify what kind of miracle I wanted, I was just praying for a miracle after a very dark week in America.

As Willie Nelson says, miracles appear in the strangest of places. Never underestimate the power of prayer.

Nove 9, 2016 A Day We Won't Soon Forget

Last week my grandson Dylan and I made plans for him to spend the night on Tuesday night. Wednesday was his day off of work and we planned to go to ACC and get paper work done for college. YAY! Tuesday evening I was planning on a quiet celebration of the victory of Hillary Clinton's Presidential win. As the evening progressed, it became apparent that wasn't going to happen. I woke up Wednesday in shock. My country was in shock. Nonetheless, Dylan had plans to go to ACC to plan his future. Spending the day with him, making plans for his future was a God send, just as he was a God send into my life the day he was born.

Dylan Ethridge at Austin Community College

The rest of my week was filled with talk of another kind of college. The electoral college. Clinton garnered more popular votes than her opponent but lost the election because of the archaic electoral college. WTF? Seriously. None of the major newspaper endorsed him. None of the living president endorsed him. Hollywood didn't endorse him. His hometown of NYC hates him. How could he have still bought the election?

I have cried more this week than I have cried in years. Grief and fear consumed me. I woke up crying from a dream on Thursday morning that was a repeat of the Spanish conquerer Cortez in the take over of Mexico from the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma.

Cortez  and Emperor Moctezuma

A steady steam of heightened bigotry, racist graffiti and hate crimes in the streets filtering into my peaceful life. A hateful patients at doctors offices telling a Spanish office manager to go back to his country because he had a slight Spanish accent. He wasn't even from Mexico, he was from Spain. An American sou chef in Dallas being told to speak English when a customer heard him speaking Spanish to his grandmother.This isn't just about an election. This is about living in the land of the free, a diverse America. One where religion, skin color or sexual orientation or place of birth aren’t liabilities or deficiencies or moral defects. It is about inclusion and connection. It's about building bridges, not walls. But darkness won. The person who ran a campaign of fear and exclusion and isolation won.A very selective America won. One that is largely white, straight and Christian.

In the past few days safety pins have taken on a new meaning in the country. Some Americans are wearing safety pins as a symbol of solidarity with victims of racism, homophobia and religious discrimination. People have spoken out on Twitter to say that their safety pins show that they are an ally to marginalized groups. #SafetyPin shows I will protect those who feel in danger because of gender, sexuality, race, disability and religion. You are safe with me!

Meanwhile, I have been praying for a miracle. Not being specific about what kind of miracle because I have no idea what is in store. Just a miracle to give me hope and the courage to carry on.

YaY! A New Neurologist in Kyle!

Today was a great day! After my less than encouraging appointment with my last neurologist, I spent hours online searching for one that practiced at "Seton Brain and Spine" and one that has an office in Kyle. A very tall order, I know but I found her. Dr. Lotika R. Misra. I bravely sent her my MRI on a CD, the technician's notes and a letter of my history and my brother's history. I asked her to consider seeing me even though she had no openings until next year. Miraculously, I received a phone call on Friday from her office saying she had a cancelation on Monday morning and asked if I could possibly make the appointment. OMG! Yes! I'll be there.

So this morning was my appointment. I have been searching for a neurologist in Kyle is because I wanted someone near by that knows my history so that if I ever had an emergency, they would know my case. I live here, alone. I need to be able to get there if I am not feeling well. About once a month I have these strange episodes that I have always called the WaaWaas. Like clock work, last night I went to a party at my friend Sharon's house and by the time I got home, for no apparent reason I was crawling into bed feeling the Waa Waas... but this was sort of a good thing because my appointment with the neurologist was this morning so that horrible feeling of the WaaWaas was very fresh on my mind. 

Dr. Misra came into the office and said she was very impressed with my research and my letter. She thanked me. She asked a few questions, did a few tests that neurologists always do. We discussed the anomalies in my brain and a couple of them in my heart. She spent 2 hours with me. She asked if I had seen my MRI on the CD, I had not so she showed me the anomalies in my brain on her laptop. She spoke to me like she cared. I described the WaaWaas to her, she took notes and said she believed they are "focal seizures" and told me to double up on my seizure meds on the days I have the episodes. She told me she was going to look into sending me to a genetic counselor to see if there is a rare syndrome that causes the issues I have. 

For the first time in over 40 years of having these issues, I felt heard. I felt comforted. I felt hope. My heart issues have always been there as well, but the WaaWaa have been debilitating most of my life. I have never known when I would start feeling that dreaded feeling that I assumed were panic attacks when I was young. They have made traveling alone and many other things a challenge. I had an episode this afternoon, I doubled up on my meds and felt better within 10 minutes. 

TheTrailblazers Journey

I spent much of my life thinking that by the time I was in my early 60's I would have it all figured out. For years I spent Sunday mornings drinking coffee while watching spiritual leaders on Oprah only to find that many of them were on the same page that I am on. If you are lucky, by now you have owned your story and more importantly, you have come to the realization that if you ever reach the point that you have no more challenges, there is really no reason to be here. Life challenges don't go away. They just change and we become better equipped at dealing with them. And if you are lucky, and I do consider myself to be extremely fortunate, you accept each challenge as a lesson to be learned, not a road block.

On this path we call life, I have proudly come to the realization that I'm a trailblazer. I come by it honestly. My ancestors were the true trailblazers who came from Spain to the new world. There's a down side to trailblazing. Like my ancestors, most of my life I have been ridiculed by control freak, religious extremists who believe I am going to hell because they don't approve of my lifestyle. Wait, isn't that why we got kicked out of Spain by the Catholics? Yeah, we don't practice religion the same way so that make me wrong?  Yet again. However, from my perspective, if there were such a place called Hell, it would seem logical to me that those who are casting the stones already have prime real estate in Hell because who could be happy living in such judgement and fear of not being able to be in control of everyone? Should we not honor and respect one another and learn from our differences?

Looking back on my life, I now almost think it's comical that my parents were told I was a witch for using herbs and crystals to heal people in the 80's. Then years later, once herbs became mainstream enough to be sold in body care products at Walmart, herbs were all the rage. Hello! Herbs and spices have been used since the beginning of time and you live on a giant round rock called Earth.

And then there's been the question of yoga and meditation. I have practiced yoga since I was 15. My sister Nita and I used to do Hatha Yoga with "Lilias Yoga" on PBS. Yeah, two teenage heathens in my sister's bedroom learning poses that stretched our muscles and our minds. The truth is that yoga predates the religions that later incorporated yoga techniques into their religion. Yoga is NOT a religion and has been practiced for centuries to balance the nervous system and still the mind. Yet again, when yoga and meditation became mainstream enough to be taught at the YMCA, going to yoga class with their new yoga mat, bought at Target was just grand! Geeeez.

... And speaking of being a trailblazer.. I made trail mix before you could buy it at the store. I was a vegetarian before you could buy veggie burgers and soy milk at HEB. My sister and I made granola in the early 70's and in the late 70's I made yogurt and butter with the milk from my cow, Betsy. I created the first website and blog at the newspaper I worked for in the 90's and I was told that the internet was of the devil. Seriously. People are so fearful of change. Here's the secret. Embrace change. Lean into it, feel the fear and move forward anyway. Do something that scares you every day. I am proud to say that I now see that I have passed the trailblazing trait down to my son, Christian. I've enjoyed watching him come up with one crazy idea after another that I think will never work and then he becomes bored with the trends by the time they become mainstream.

Christian Ethridge 

I guess I have to be thankful that my parents ran out of time, energy and money to send me to the Catholic school that my siblings went to. I never bought into the guilt that many people are driven by or the idea of a place called Hell where I would go if I made honest mistakes or sinned. So here is the difference between my religion and their religion. A misinterpretation of the word "SIN." The original Hebrew root word of sin simply means "Off Target." Not damed to Hell. I never believed that I had to go to church pay someone pray for me. My God would never send me to a hot burning place for meditating or using rocks and plants to heal people. Again, I have to thank my ancestors who were curanderas. I call on them often for guidance. They were literally kicked out of their country because of their religion. Nobody can scare me with the threat of going to Hell because I don't believe they same thing they believe.

Christina and Phillip

Besides my ancestors, I've had other great teachers in trailblazing. My older brother Phillip being one of them. Seven years ago I saw him go through brain surgery and a year ago, he had open heart surgery. These experiences brought many lessons. For him, I saw a warrior unwilling to feel defeated and at the same time, he learned to compromise with his family and doctors while agreeing to both the brain surgery and open heart surgery. His health issues were something he was pretty sure he could handle with diet, prayer and willpower. He finally realized that the surgeries were his rescue boat, so he reluctantly climbed aboard. I experienced a mixed bowl of emotions watching him go through his medical procedures and seeing him embrace his vulnerabilities one by one.

I realized that since there was more than one of us, in my immediate family, with congenital brain and heart issues, it was imperative to document. For my children, grandchildren and everyone else in my family. Since then I have been on fire doing ancestry research to see if I saw any patterns. I've researched and documented each and every symptom the two of us had and compared them to others in our immediate family and then compared them to relatives in New Mexico. Meanwhile, I have been blessed to have met more second and third cousins than I can count. People that share my DNA, that look like me and who share some of my health issues. What a blessing that has been actually having extremely emotional conversations with relatives I never knew I had. On the down side, there have been way too many of us who have died of "brain tumors," "brain aneurysms," "strokes," and  "heart attacks."

So here I am once again, trailblazing and once again being shot down by the naysayers. Not only being shot down but being told that my health issues are psychosomatic and saying I should pray for for my health issues to go away but also telling my daughter that I focus way too much on my health issues.  Wow! So I wonder if say for instance you just happen to be 6' tall and you would rather be 5'8" could you just pray to be shorter? Because in essence, that would be the same as me praying to not have congenital health issues. I was born that way. And since all of my health issues are congenital, they aren't just my concern, they the concerns of everyone that is genetically related to me as well. Someday, someone else in my family may have to deal with these issues. So yes, I'm going to talk about it and write about it. I want everyone concerned to have documented information when they go to specialists instead of spending a lifetime wondering what is wrong with them. As for me personally, I'm rather proud of the fact that I have managed to function normally for the most part, my whole life. Up until 7 years ago, I had a full time job and raised children while dealing with a serious brain condition that cause seizures, migraines, neck pain, burning sensations in my arms and legs, dizziness and a heart condition that cause chest pain, heart palpitations, fatigue, hoarseness, wheezing, shortness of breath, difficulty swallowing and acid reflux. Not to speak of all the inability to maintain a regular activity level and the fear and uncertainty that goes with all of the above. Now, at the age of 61, my daily regimen consists of 10 pills, several herbs and a whole lot of prayer. I am talking A Constant State of Prayer and several days a month in bed and everything else in moderation.

So if I ever confided in you, it was because I thought you cared and/or I thought my information would be helpful to you, not because I was complaining. My health issues are far from being psychosomatic. Fortunately my physicians know this to be true and I feel blessed to have several that I work well with. My general practitioner knows I don't take pain meds and is perfectly fine with my daily consumption of turmeric for inflammation. My cardiologist knows I cut my blood pressure pills in half and after reading my MRI results and years of medical history, the last neurologist I saw said "You and your doctors have done a great job taking care of you. By the way, why were you granted disability? Just curious, because you need it for both your brain and your heart. But you are doing very well." I am guessing that was a compliment. My acupuncturist calls me the lady with the wild heart.

It is always such an adventure going in to have my annual tests because none of my doctors have ever seen any of the congenital issues I have. I have my heart tests in January and then in June I have all my brain tests. I have come to the conclusion that each test result is left up to the interpretation of each technician and doctor. I have been given some very strange results over the years. Seven years ago I was diagnosed with Syringomyelia, a cyst that forms within the spinal cord. The prognosis was horrible, however, now with no explanation, it is no longer there and symptoms are gone. I guess I prayed that one away... or misdiagnosed.. which is what has been happening my whole life. So now there are other issues. A couple of months ago after having my annual brain MRI, my neurologist reported that I have multiple developmental anomalies. Great let's hear it. By the way, I am convinced that for generations people have just lived with these anomalies and then just died younger than we die now, never being diagnosed. But again, the following is just to have something to go by if someday you end up in the ER and you think you are going to die. You probably won't.

As far as my brain goes, the report says I don't have a septem pellucidum. Huh? What is that? It is the thin, triangular, vertical, double membrane separating the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

I don't have one? The absence of the septem pellucidum can cause many symptoms but the only ones I seem to display are hormonal problems and seizures. Reading further on the report, it said that left frontoparietal polymicrogyria is present. Okay, what does that mean? The ridges on the left side of the cortex of my brain are smaller than the ridges of the right side of my brain. Again, it can cause seizures. When my neurologist saw this, he verified that I am left handed and an artist. There is more activity on the right side of my brain. I continue to read and it says there I have a left closed lip schizencephaly, also known as Split Brain disorder What is that? Oh... it's just a very rare disease, the second rarest known brain malformation. Symptoms? Seizures. Schizencephaly is derived from Greek word “skhizein” meaning “to split”, and “enkephalos”, meaning “brain.” The good news? Schizencephaly is not degenerative: meaning it will not get worse. 

Then... reading on down... there are two visible punctate foci. What? I wish these guys would speak English, what is that? Oh, that's just a tiny depressions on my mid right frontal deep white matter of my brain. I am not even going to concern myself with those. And last but not least, just as I had suspected. My MRI with the contrast dye showed that I have a small superior right frontal developmental venous anomaly. The tech wrote that I have chronic microvascular ischemic change of the brain. These are is small areas in the brain where tiny blood vessels have ruptured or clotted off causing, essentially, extremely small areas of strokes.

Just as I had suspected, Cerebral Cavernous Malformations. The otherwise rare genetic disease that has been running rampant in my family in New Mexico since the 1500's. For about 5 years now I have been doing research and trying to get my immediate family on board with my findings to no avail. On the other hand, my cousins in New Mexico who either have Cerebral Cavernous Malformations or who have immediate family that have died due to Cerebral Cavernous Malformations are extremely grateful for the work I have done. It is very difficult to be diagnosed because the malformations can only be seen with contrast dye and only CCM1 experts can detect the disease. The tech here in Kyle that read my MRI merely said that the MRI with the contrast dye showed that I have a small superior right frontal developmental venous anomaly and noted that I have chronic microvascular ischemic change of the brain. Uh... yeah... those small areas in the brain where tiny blood vessels have ruptured are Cavernous Malformations.

Dr. Leslie Morrison at the University of New Mexico is an expert who finally received federal funding for a study on Cerebral Cavernous Malformations about 2 years ago. I recently sent my most recent MRI results to her for further evaluation. The most common symptoms of CCM1 are migraines, seizures, stroke and on rare occasions, death. There is currently no cure. 

As we move further down the MRI to my heart, the MRI shows exactly what the MRI that I had in January shows. I have a right-sided aortic arch with a diverticulum of Kommerell. What's that? Well, in layman terms it is yet another rare anomaly of the aortic arch system. My aortic arch goes to the right instead of the left of my heart. This is rare in itself but mine is accompanied by a Kommerell diverticulum, or an aneurysm. I have to take a low dosage of blood pressure medication to because of blood pressure spikes. I avoid stress at all cost. The good news is my aneurysm is currently only 3cm, it doesn't become dangerous until it is 5cm. It causes horsness, whizing, difficulty or discomfort in swallowing, acid reflux or  GERD and snoring due to compression of the trachea and esophagus. Yeah, I am horrible to sleep with. And then I have aortic valve regurgitation. My heart's aortic valve doesn't close tightly, allowing some of the blood that is pumped out of my heart's main pumping chamber (left ventricle) to leak back into it. The leakage prevents my heart from efficiently pumping blood to the rest of my body. As a result, I feel fatigued and short of breath. This is not so rare but before I knew I had it, I had dental work done without antibiotics and almost died. I was sick for about 3 months. This also explains why I was never good at sports. 

And last on the list of congenital disorders - I have a horseshoe kidney, also known as renal fusion or super kidney. Yeah, I have not two by ONE kidney fused together, forming a horseshoe shaped kidney. Good thing I am not a drinker, huh?

So... there you have it. Again, I am writing this blog for my family. ALL of my health issues are congenital. Someday, someone in my family may discover they have one or two of the anomalies that I have. I pray daily that it doesn't occur however, I am here to give you hope. Brain and heart conditions don't have to be a death sentence. Stay on top of your issues. Live a healthy lifestyle. It's imperative. Have gratitude for everyone, everything and everyday. And most of all, remember that not one of us is perfect. Own your stories. When you deny your story, it defines you. It is our job to write our own daring ending. Live your life fearlessly.

Happy 79th Birthday to Rudolfo Anaya!

Painting By Christina Fajardo
My Grandma Rosita Valdez Padilla's House
Puerto de Luna, NM

In 1972 I went to live with my grandma Rosita Valdez Padilla in Puerto de Luna, New Mexico. I attended my junior year of high school 12 miles down a winding 2 lane road that followed the Pecos River in Santa Rosa. That year was life changing for me. It was also the year that Rudolfo Anaya's novel, "Bless Me, Ultima" was published. It told a somewhat similar story of Antonio Mares and his relationship with Ultima.

Rudolfo Anaya

In Rudolfo's novel, six year old Antonio Mares y Luna, tells the story of the older curandera, Ultima who has come to live with them. The story is very near and dear to my heart. It took place in Puerto de Luna. My parents were born, raised and married in Puerto de Luna. It took place just after WWII. My father was in the army during WWII and my mother worked for her uncle at the post office in Puerto de Luna during the war. She would sometimes have to take telegrams to the families of fallen soldiers on her horse. She was only 19 at the time. That seems like a lot to expect of a teenager who was related to everyone in Puerto de Luna. However Professor Emeritus and New Mexican author, Rudolfo Anaya wasn't just telling my story, my family history, he is a hometown hero of Santa Rosa and Puerto de Luna. He has the most widely read and critically acclaimed novel in the Chicano literary canon since its first publication in 1972, the year I was living with my grandma in Puerto de Luna. Of course, by that time, I was just walking in his footsteps and he had moved on to Albuquerque where he would become the Godfather of Chicano Literature, the treasured son of New Mexico. 

This year Rudolfo became one of the newest recipients of the National Humanities Medal. I can't tell you how exciting it was to watch him on TV receiving the awarded from President Obama. While leaving the stage, he held up his hand and said "Viva Obama!" 

U.S. President Barack Obama awards the 2015 National Humanities Medal to author Rudolfo Anaya

What it must have felt like to be acknowledged by the coolest President we have ever had for playing a key role in weaving our New Mexican culture into American society through his body of work. I only dream of breaking the barriers he has broken by telling his story of the civil rights struggles of Hispanic people of New Mexico. He has given me the courage to tell my story as a female Hispanic woman. By telling his story of Ultima, he helped me to solidify the importance of a boy and his relationship to his wise and aging grandmother who held the secrets of life that only she could convey to him as a young boy before he grew too old to have the time or interest. I've personally cherish those times with my own children and grandchildren and I feel blessed when they come back and repeat information that I have bestowed upon them. 

Rudolfo has been a huge inspiration to me. Telling his stories has given me permission to tell my story. I write my blog to keep my very unusually rich New Mexican family story alive. My son said to me just the other day "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. My brother Phillip reminds me all the time that I am the keeper of the stories and the family history. My mother before me was the keeper. I only wish I had started writing while she was still alive.

The movie can be bought on Amazon Prime. 
I have streamed and watched it many times.

Rudolfo explains in this video how he receives guidance from his ancestors.

A Conversation with Rudolfo Anaya by Directed by Lawrence Bridges

It is an amazing thing to have those connections to the past. Sometimes late at night when I am working on my family tree, if there is a missing link to connect one family member to another, it is as if my guides come and the information just appears out of nowhere. So that answers the question of "do we live forever?" I would have to say yes. We are energy and energy never dies. I feeling the presence and blessings of my ancestors when I am working on our story.

Without getting way into my family tree, I am related to Rudolfo Anaya and Ultima, AKA Anastacia Lucero Boney.) A dear friend of mine, Jasmine is Ultima's great great granddaughter and now has a store in Santa Rosa, NM called Casa de Ultima. She does farmers markets around New Mexico and she always takes the Ultima doll I made for her with her to the markets and displays her among her herbal remedies and soaps.

Ultima Doll
Made by Christina Fajardo

Christina at the Rudolfo Anaya Statue
Park Lake, Santa Rosa,NM

Happy 79th birthday to you Rudolfo Anaya! You have been a huge inspiration to me. Your spirit will live on forever in your stories.

COLORES | From Curandera To Chupacabra: The Stories Of Rudolfo Anaya | New Mexico PBS