The Beginning in the New World For the Guerrero Family (And the decisions that made each and every one of you unique) As the story was told to me by a professor of Mexican Studies at CSLA, a Spanish ship departed from Cuba for the Yucatan, Mexico. On the way they encountered a storm and the ship sunk. All were lost except two of the sailors. The story names one of the sailors as Aguilar and the second Guerrero. When they went ashore, Aguilar, who was senior said to Guerrero,”We will go inand and meet up with Cortez and give him the news of the loss of the vessel”. Guerrero refused to go and decided to go south. After much arguing they parted company, one going West North West the other South. That is where we will actually start our tale of the decisions that put our branch of the Guerrero Family where we are today. The Yucatan Peninsula was part of the Mayan Empire. Guerrero soon found a wife and had the first recorded Mexican which is the offspring of a Spaniard and an Indian (I guess today they would be native American. His decision to go south started a whole new tribe, if you will, Mexicans. Pretty big decision. Eventually the family did migrate to Mexico City, Where most of the family stayed and prospered. My grandfather, Edward, made the decision to move to Baja California, which would have been about 1900. I don’t know if he married before or after they moved, but he did. My grandmother on my father’s side was one Concepcion Aguilar. Note her last name, coincidence or fate? Shortly thereafter my dad was born, on July 2, 1910. Again another decision was made. Move north to Tucson in the Arizona Territory. This is where they lived until their death, My mother’s family lived in Hermosillo, Mexico. After my, grandmother on my mother’s side, was widowed and left with 3 children, she moved to Tucson. Since all she knew was being a domestic, she got a job as a house keeper and cook at the Guerrero residence. To make a long story a little shorter my mom and dad married and had 3 kids, I being the only boy. This was during the depression so dad had many jobs, such as delivering beer, and caddie at the local golf course (which now hosts the Tucson Open). He also was a fair to middling pool player and that helped bring home the bacon. At some point, maybe 1935 or 6, he and my mom got divorced and made the decision to move to Los Angeles, California, where he became a body and fender man. So far can you see the trend? All the moves that were made were made because of the need to work and support the family as well, or better than their father before them. My drive or my work ethics were instilled in me, not by my dad, but by my grandmother on my mother’s side. When she gave you a job, it was explained once and as I could see she never doubted that it would be done. All the beatings I got as I was growing up were for being where I shouldn’t have been, doing what I shouldn’t be doing, never because I did not do my job. She taught me the need to keep my word and the need to be punctual. Never lie, never steal, never leave a job half done. You are probably wondering what decision I made to put you where you are today. My first big decision was to move to California to live with my dad. Had I stayed in Tucson I probably would have died in Korea. Most of my boyhood friends joined the Marine reserves when they were old enough. So in 1950, they were the first line of defense. When I went back to Tucson in 1955 to visit there was 1 person that made it thru and he was still in the service. I never saw him again. Had I not moved to California and made the decision to join the navy, your mother would never have married me. She said it was the uniform. People will tell you that every child is different and should be treated different. That may be true, but all my kids had to follow the same rules and received equal treatment (except maybe Kathy) as the next kid. Although you were all different you all grew up with the same work ethics, the same compassion toward those that deserve it and you’re all honest. Granted you all cuss more than I ever did, but I can live with that. One more thing that I noticed that I think is one my and your mothers traits, is that you are loyal to your friends until they prove otherwise. Written with the urging of Frank July 23, 2013
Posted on: Sun, 04 Aug 2013 02:04:05 +0000
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