Medardo Gonzales - Mi Vida Loca, My Crazy Life: A Biographical and Historical Account of the Life of a Native New Mexican in the Twentieth Century

MI VIDA LOCA,
MY CRAZY LIFE

A Biographical and Historical
Account of the Life of a Native New
Mexican in the Twentieth Century

Medardo Gonzales

Copyright 2019 Medardo Gonzales.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-3231-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-3233-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-3232-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019911026

Balboa Press rev. date: 08/14/2019

CONTENTS

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the memory of Elizardo and Emilia Gonzales, my father and mother, both of whom are deceased. They were simple, humble folk who never refused to help those in need, and whose kindness was exceeded only by their love and generosity. They were loved by all whose lives they touched. They didnt have much of an education, but they always worked hard to supply us with everything we needed and lots, and lots of love! May they rest in peace and we all look forward to seeing them in heaven someday. Special thanks to my daughter Sylvia Martin and granddaughters Emily Lithgow, Rebecca Chavez and Heather Ortiz for their constant asking me to tell them what life was like in the olden days and begging me to write my life story. I probably wouldnt have done it without their interest in knowing what life was like in my day, but Im glad they bugged me. And a great heap of thanks and gratitude to my daughter Monica Moran and my son, Medardo Marty Gonzales for their help and expertise in using Word Perfect. Their knowledge and skills of this system saved the day for me. Especially Monica. She was a real hide saver. At my age, I need all the help I can get. At my age Im like an old car. My necessary parts need replacing and every time I cough, sneeze, or wheeze, my radiator either springs a leak, or my exhaust backfires like firecrackers going off during the Fourth of July. And now I live one day at a time instead of living like there was no tomorrow. I hope you enjoy this narrative of the crazy life of a Native Son of New Mexico.

WHAT THIS BOOK IS ABOUT,
WHY IT CAME ABOUT, AND
HOW IT CAME ABOUT

This book is about what life was like in the twentieth century as experienced by one who was born in a small farming and ranching community during the Great Depression and grew up with, lived among, played with, and worked with people of Hispanic descent like himself, and then in a small New Mexico city among people whose descendants came mostly from Europe, Asia, Central and South America, and the Indigenous People who were here first. Almost his entire life and career were spent living among, and/or working with, and for the people of the Navajo, Zuni, Acoma, Laguna, Apache, Hoopa and Yurok Tribes and served in an Administrative capacity with the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs. From a small boy herding sheep in the foothills of the San Pedro Mountains of Northern New Mexico to a country boy living in the city, to a young man serving his country during the Korean Conflict (sometimes referred to as The Forgotten War and Frozen Chosin), to working for his Country in a Branch of the Federal Government that provides human services and assistance to the Indigenous Peoples of this country, to raising a family of eight children, and the adventures he and his family had along the way while living and working in various Indian Reservations located throughout New Mexico, Arizona and California. This was a journey of Learning, Living, and Loving that taught the author and his family the true meaning of the word love; love of God, love of self, love for one and other, and love for others. It has been a life mostly happy, sometimes sad, sometimes funny, sometimes full of grief and tears, but always full of love and thankfulness to our Creator who is the source of our strength and who makes everything possible.

Everything thats written herein has been gleaned from the life and experiences of the author during his eighty-five (and counting) years on this planet, conversations with his parents and his numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, co-workers, and other native New Mexicans who have lived and experienced the kind of lives written about in this book. For accuracy and veracity, he has referenced the works of other New Mexico authors and on-line services such as Wikipedia. He has tried to be as true and accurate as possible in his account and asks for the readers forgiveness for any information which may be found to be erroneously and unintentionally presented. Buena Salud!

INTRODUCTION

My crazy life sprang into being on the morning of January 4, 1933 according to my parents Elizardo Gonzales and Emilia Gutierrez de Gonzales, who can be trusted with the veracity of what they recounted to me. l, on the other hand, having just turned into the ripe old age of 85 on this day of January 4, 2018, can be forgiven for having some senior moments and embellishing some of my narrative with tonterias (crazy sayings) of things that stand out in my memory. I have tried to recount my life as I remember it: with all the sounds, sights, smells, tastes, feelings and emotions which my mind can recollect. The memories I have recounted of my infancy and early childhood come mainly from the stories told by my parents and my primas hermanas (first cousins) Sylvia Trujillo de Cordova, Celia Trujillo de Sanchez, and Armolita Trujillo de Herrera who were like my older sisters and who spoiled me, played with me as if I were their toy, and protected me against all the bullies in school when I finally started going to school. I owe a lot of gratitude to my tia (aunt) Ramoncita as well, who was their mother and my mothers older sister, and who was also like my other mama. It was she who delivered me when I was born and who gave me my first nalgadita (slap on my skinny, tiny butt) when I came out of my mothers womb.