FAMILY HISTORY P.2THE INTERVIEW

ALFREDO VELASQUEZGEO 10

WHO TO INTERVIEW?

I DECIDED TO INTERVIEW MY MOM, BERTHA VELASQUEZ

AND MY DAD, BRUNO VELASQUEZ.

MY FATHERS SIDE

MY DAD, BORN AND RAISED IN JALISCO, MEXICO IN 1964, IS

THE OLDEST OF SEVEN CHILDREN.

MY FATHERS SIDE

MY GRANDPARENTS, GUADALUPE AND PEDRO VELASQUEZ WERE VERY

HUMBLE, LIVING IN A SMALL TOWN THEY ONLY SOMETIMES

HAD ENOUGH TO BUY RICE AND BEANS.

MY FATHERS SIDE

RELIGION IS VERY IMPORTANT TO MY GRANDMA.

SHE IS INTENSELY SPIRITUAL, ATTENDING MASS WITH HER

FAMILY EVERY SUNDAY.

MY FATHERS SIDE

WHILE IN MEXICO, MY GRANDPA WORKED AS A

FARMER. FOR A TIME IN HIS LIFE, MY

GRANDPA HAD SOME TROUBLES WITH ALCOHOL,

SPENDING HIS TIME IN BARS, SPENDING AND BETTING THE

LITTLE MONEY THEY HAD.

MY FATHERS SIDE

WHILE GROWING UP IN JALISCO, MY DAD COMPLETES

ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND SOME HIGH SCHOOL

BEFORE DECIDING TO COME TO AMERICA, AT THE AGE OF

17

MY FATHERS SIDE

WHEN FIRST COMING OVER TO THE U.S., MY DAD SETTLES IN

POMONA, CA WITH HIS COUSIN WHO WAS ALREADY HERE.

HE DOESN'T IMMEDIATELY START WORKING, AFTER

ARRIVING.

MY FATHERS SIDE

FUNNY STORY ABOUT MY DAD IS THAT WHEN GETTING HIS DOCUMENTATION PAPERS HERE IN THE U.S., HE WRITES

DOWN THAT HIS BIRTHDAY IS ACTUALLY ONE YEAR BEFORE HIS

ACTUAL BIRTHDAY. HE SAYS HE DID IT SO HE COULD FIND

A JOB, SINCE MOST REQUIRED TO BE 18.

MY FATHERS SIDE

AFTER LIVING HERE A WHILE, MORE AND MORE OF MY DADS SIBLINGS STARTED CROSSING

OVER AND EVENTUALLY EVERYONE IN THE FAMILY WAS

HERE INCLUDING MY GRANDPARENTS.

ALONG WITH THE FAMILY, THEY BROUGHT OVER THEY

TRADITIONS.

FATHERS TRADITIONS

EVERY EASTER, THANKSGIVING, AND

CHRISTMAS EVE, THE FAMILY GETS TOGETHER FOR A

REUNION, MAKING TRADITIONAL FOODS, LIKE

TAMALES, POSOLE, MENUDO, BIRRIA AND MANY MORE.

MOTHERS SIDE BORN AND RAISED IN SINALOA,

MEXICO IN 1963 MY MOM WAS THE SECOND BORN, OF 6

CHILDREN.

MOTHERS SIDE MY GRANDPARENTS FROM MY

MOMS SIDE ARE PANCHO CAMPOS AND LIBRADA

CAMPOS, AND LIKE MY DADS GRANDPARENTS, THEY ALSO

GREW UP VERY HUMBLE.

MOTHERS SIDE LIKE MY DADS DAD, MY MOMS

DAD WAS ALSO A FARMER. HE ALSO LOVED TO GO HUNTING FOR QUAIL, DEER,

ARMADILLO AMONGST OTHER ANIMALS.

MOTHERS SIDE MY GRANDMA WAS ALSO RELIGIOUS, BUT NOT AS MUCH

AS MY DADS MOM. SHE FOCUSED MORE ON

RAISING A FAMILY.

MOTHERS SIDE MY GRANDMA AND GRANDPA

WERE TOGETHER FOR A LONG TIME BUT THEN ABRUPTLY

PARTED WAYS AFTER AROUND 30 YEARS TOGETHER.

MOTHERS SIDE MY MOM LIKE MY DAD DIDN’T

GET MUCH EDUCATION. SHE FINISHED ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL, BUT NOT ATTENDING HIGH SCHOOL.

SHE CROSSED OVER AT THE AGE OF 15 INITIALLY SETTLING IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA WITH AN AUNT THAT RESIDED THERE.

MOTHERS SIDE AFTER LIVING A COUPLE OF

YEARS IN PHOENIX, MY MOM MIGRATES TO ONTARIO, WHERE

HER OLDER BROTHER HAD SETTLED.

AFTER SOME YEARS, MY MOMS SIBLINGS CROSS OVER, AND EVENTUALLY THEY BRING MY

GRANDMA OVER TOO.

MOTHERS SIDE AFTER COMING TO THE U.S., LIKE

EVERY IMMIGRANTS, SHE BROUGHT HER TRADITIONS.

LIKE MY DADS FAMILY, MY MOMS FAMILY TRIED TO HAVE FAMILY

REUNIONS ON THE MAJOR HOLIDAYS, BUT WITH HER PARENTS DIVIDED, IT

PROVED HARD TO ACCOMPLISH.

MOTHERS SIDE MY MOM DID KEEP SOME TRADITIONS

HOWEVER. SHE LEARNED MANY HOME REMEDIES FROM HER MOM, FROM USING

PLANTS TO HEAL WOUNDS TO HOME REMEDIES TO ALLEVIATE SICKNESSES.

SHE ALSO PICKED UP TRADITIONAL FOOD RECIPES, LIKE TAMALES, SEVICHE,

CHILES RELLENOS, CHILAQUILES, ENCHILADAS AND COUNTLESS MORE.