Linda Huesca Tully

Matrilineal Monday: Falling in Love with Europe

Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) Alice Gaffney (McGinnis) Schiavon (1895 – 1963) European Tour – August 15 – October 4, 1950 Though my mother initially had not wanted to go to Europe, she was soon mesmerized by the fascinating people and whirlwind activities on board the luxury oceanliner H.M.S. Queen Mary … Continue reading

Those Places Thursday: Reluctant Traveler

Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) Aboard the R.M.S. Queen Mary, August 15, 1950, New York to Southampton My mother’s passport photo, 1950 My mother did not relish the idea of going to Europe, especially with her mother, Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon. But in the summer of 1950, she had no better plans. The … Continue reading

Talented Tuesday: Our Chinese “Auntie”

The Very Talented Miss Margaret Yu Margaret Yu, far right, circa 1950. I am not sure where this photo was taken or whether the people with her were family members or friends. My mother, Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca met Margaret Yu while both were attending Saint Francis College in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Margaret was an exchange … Continue reading

Matrilineal Monday: College Girl

Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) My mother graduated from Aquinas High School in 1946, a year after the Second World War ended. Joan Schiavon, Chicago, 1945 My grandparents decided my mother, Joan Joyce Schiavon, should attend college near their Chicago home, and they sent her to Saint Francis College in Indiana. While … Continue reading

Thankful Thursday: A Father’s Influence (Part 2 of 2)

Gilbert Cayetano Huesca (1915 – 2009) My father, Gilbert Huesca, as a young man. In Part 1, my father, Gilbert Huesca, described his life as a child growing up as part of a working family in Orizaba, a mountain town in Mexico’s eastern state of Veracruz. In 1923, when Gilbert was 23 years old, … Continue reading

Wisdom Wednesday: A Father’s Influence (Part 1 of 2)

Gilbert Cayetano Huesca (1915 – 2009) The Huesca-Perrotin Family Left to right: Delia Domitila, Victoria, and Gilbert Huesca; Catalina (Perrotin) Huesca; Cayetano Huesca (standing), Mario Huesca and Maria (Amaro) Perrotin (both seated); Blanca Perrotin; and Eduardo and Enrique Huesca. Notice my father, who was about seven years old in this photograph: even as a young boy, he loved wearing neckties, just … Continue reading

Amanuensis Monday: It Came Back to Me in a Dream

Gilbert Cayetano Huesca (1915 – 2009) [Note: Amanuensis is an ancient word meaning one who performs the function of writing down or transcribing the words of another. Derived from the Latin root manu- , meaning manual or hand, the word also has been used as a synonym for secretary or scribe.] My father, Gilbert Huesca, August 2008 My father’s earliest memory … Continue reading

My Father’s Early Days in Chicago: 1948

Gilbert Cayetano Huesca (1915 – 2009) My handsome father, Gilbert Cayetano Huesca, Chicago, Illinois, about 1948. Nearly a year after his first visit to Chicago in 1947, the record of Border Crossings: From Mexico to U.S., 1895 – 1957, of Gilbert Cayetano Huesca’s second trip to the U.S., lists him as “Cayetano Huesca y Perrotin.*” It describes him … Continue reading

Those Places Thursday: North to Chicago

Gilbert Cayetano Huesca (1915 – 2009) My father, Gilbert Huesca, on one of his business trips, climbing up a Pemex Mexican Petroleum oil tank, Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico In 1947, the man who would become my beloved father, Gilbert Huesca, was a 32- year-old commercial artist from Mexico City who was eager to see the world and … Continue reading

Wisdom Wednesday: Good Things Come to Those who Wait

Joan Joyce Schiavon (1928 – 1987) Gilbert Cayetano Huesca (1915 – 2009) My mother, Joan Joyce Schiavon, about 1947 1947 was a time of joy and excitement for the Schiavon family of Chicago, Illinois, as they anticipated the wedding … Continue reading