Long Time Comin'

I know, I know... I've been horrible lately with keeping up my blog, but honestly I've been sooo busy, I haven't had time.  I am either at class, observing middle school classes, studying, working, eating or sleeping, it's taken quite the toll.  Also, notice "working out" didn't make that list.  

Slowly, though, my being busy should subside a little after this week.  Hopefully.

Luckily, I had a class project that got me motivated to blog.  It was a family history project for my Multi-Cultural Education course.  Technically it was called a family history "outline," but I think the only reason is that the professor didn't want to take the time to actually read a full project on people's heritage.  Therefore, the outline was 1 page and basically asked the who, what, when, and where from, about our family immigrating to the United States.  There was not even space to write a full sentence for some of the responses to these questions, either...  see, lame.

The good news is that, knowing that I had this project ahead of me, I asked my family for this book that was written by my dad's grandma's sister (is that my great aunt?).  She wrote it in 1994 when she was 97 years old!  I never met "Mimi," who wrote it, but having read her stories I wish I had.

Here is a picture of Mimi (unspecified date):

The story I wanted to share was the meeting of my great, great grandmother and great, great grandfather.. in Mimi's words:

My parents' meeting must have been designed in Heaven because from their beginnings they lived a long way apart before automobiles and airplanes. My mother was one of several marriageable daughters of Jesus Maria Otero and his wife Maria Christina Ortega.

My mother was born in Los Angeles, California, where her parents had married.  She was next to the oldest daughter and had a certain dignity that always found her in the most respected place at any gathering.  My father was from Sonora, Mexico, the son of Jesus Maria Peralta and Henrietta Bustamante.  This was a very humble family.

A friend of my father, Rodolfo Campodonico, invited my father to join him with a little band to come to the United States to make a little money.  At the time my father was attending a seminary preparatory to becoming a priest.  The need was great, so my father consented and came with his friend to Phoenix [Arizona].  The little group was hired by my grandfather Otero to serenade his daughters who at the time had a house guest.  It was here that Gabriel Peralta and Isabel (Belle) Otero met and in a very short time there was an understanding between the two.  This all happened in June, and they were married Christmas Day the same year, 1886.

We truly had a wonderful heritage.

I can't tell you how grateful I am that "Mimi" took it upon herself to write done our ancestry.  I was so happy to learn about family I knew nothing about.  It's funny, we never knew exactly where our musicality came from, but in the book I learned that this side of the family were almost all singers, musicians and performers.  And Mimi was a teacher, which I thought fit quite nicely with my present path.

I could go on and on, but I am probably boring you.  I'll leave you with 2 pictures that were in the book, that I had never seen before.  

My great grandmother, Rose Peralta Saenz, "considered the beauty of the family"

My grandfather, Gabriel Peralta Saenz, or just Grandpa Gabe