Iconsisted of two sisters and three other brothers. We supported ourselves by working in the fields and orchards over much of the state. Like most Mexican and Filipino families in the area, this type of work was just about the only reliable employment that was available to us. We worked hard - very hard. We didn’t have our own home until I was in high school. It was in the country about three miles from our little town.
When I was a child, one of our homes was the open air in the middle of a vineyard. Soon after, we graduated to a tent. Our floor was solid dirt and my mother sprinkled it with water and swept it clean with a broom. Several times rainstorms battered our tent so hard we retreated to our car to sit them out. A simple little house was eventually built on the same spot
My love for good music, classical, or formal music as it’s sometimes referred to, was ingrained in me at a very early age. I was naturally drawn to it. I don’t know why. I seemed to be the only one in my family to appreciate it except for my father. One day I was playing a piece of music by a famous composer when my father appeared to be very thoughtful. He told me that the music reminded him of his mother and father. He missed them so much for they lived in Mexico and at that time it was very difficult for him to return to Mexico for a visit. Thereafter, he would occasionally ask me to play him certain pieces of music because he enjoyed listening to them. Here was a man of very limited education who earned his living by hard labor, who walked into the United States from Mexico while just a child, went to night school to learn English, studied the Constitution and to earn his U.S. citizenship. He was not a person who seemed to be of sophisticated tastes, but was awed of this music so much that he cried at times when listening to it. I never forgot the power of the sound of music and to this very day I listen to it whenever I can. Sure, we listened to our rancheras, corridos, and other popular music but classical music was, and is, very special in our family.. |
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