Huesca – Page 3 – Many Branches, One Tree

Wisdom Wednesday: Crossroads

Gilbert Cayetano Huesca (1915 – 2009) Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) My parents, having decided that our family should leave the high altitude of Mexico City for the sake of my little sister’s health, now had a decision to make: Where should we go? Flickr Creative Commons, Photo by Laenulfean We had been living … Continue reading

Motivation Monday: Whatever You Do in this Life Will Come Back to You

Gilbert Cayetano Huesca (1915 – 2009) Joan (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) José Gil Alberto Cayetano Huesca (1888 – 1937) Photo by Alex Proimos, courtesy Flickr Creative Commons “Who is that man?” The short, stout, hunched over pediatrician my parents had found in the Mexico City phone book and called in desperation to … Continue reading

Wishful Wednesday: Did She Find Happiness?

November 22, 1965 Dear Joan, Received your letter and glad to hear from you and that you are all well. I am feeling pretty good myself at present. A week ago Gene Vallee* and I took Joe Hanlon** to South Bend to see a football game and that evening we all had … Continue reading

Wisdom Wednesday: Learning New Perspectives

My school hygiene committee card, issued in 1966, stated on the reverse that I would promise to be a good example of physical, mental, and moral health, and would strive to promote the same for the betterment of Mexico. When my sisters and I attended school in Mexico City in the mid-1960s, we learned that not only … Continue reading

Family Recipe Friday: Arroz con Leche (Rice Pudding)

Mmm…that feeling you get when “comfort food” takes you back. Rice Pudding, also known in Spain and Latin America as Arroz con Leche. Courtesy Wikipedia; in the public domain. Having cooked for her family’s two hotels in Veracruz state in the 1920s and 30s and for her family of 13 every day for much of … Continue reading

Wisdom Wednesday: A Grandmother’s Love

Catalina (Perrotin) Huesca (1893 – 1998) “Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever.” – Author unknown My grandmother, Catalina (Perrotin) Huesca, Chicago, about 64 years old, 1956. One of my earliest – and warmest – memories of living with my grandmother, or Abuelita Catalina (Perrotin) Huesca was our first night … Continue reading

Traveling Tuesday: South of the Border Bound

CC courtesy of Eva Luedin on Flickr Decisions to move are not made lightly, especially when a large family and a great distance is involved. My parents thought long and hard about leaving Chicago, where my mother had been born and lived all her life, and transplanting our roots to Mexico City in early … Continue reading

Madness Monday: Cold War Mania

Bert the Turtle taught me and other children of the 1950s and 1960s how to protect ourselves in the event of a nuclear bomb. 1952, Creative Commons, originally published by the U.S. Government and Archer Productions. Though life on South Luella Avenue in the early 1960s was indeed full of innocence and bliss for the … Continue reading

Sentimental Sunday: Life on South Luella Avenue

I was just turning four years old in 1959, when our family moved to a two-flat brown brick home owned by my maternal grandparents at 7123 South Luella Avenue in Chicago. We moved into this home on Chicago’s South Side in 1959. This photo shows it as it looked a few years ago. My … Continue reading

Shopping Saturday: Adventures in Spanish

Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca, at the country home of my Uncle Enrique and Aunt Mercedes “Meche” Huesca, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, August 1987. My mother went to the corner store one day while in Mexico City to buy some hair gel. After hunting unsuccessfully for it, she asked the … Continue reading