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    Under the Light of My Stars
    Under the Light of My Stars
    Under the Light of My Stars
    Ebook155 pages2 hours

    Under the Light of My Stars

    By Antonia Garcia

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    About this ebook

    This book has family stories that date back from 1875 to the present. Stories that took place at the rancheras (rural settlements) in the region of los Altos de Jalisco, Mexico, during and after the Cristero revolution.

    It recounts the ways of living, celebrations, and disciplines passed on from one generation to the next. The experiences of immigrant people and the challenges and opportunities they encounter in the United States. It talks about the pain families experience when they lose a loved one in another country and cannot physically be by their side.

    This book depicts the story of an unexpected accident and what happens in the unconscious mind of a dying person. It talks about how some human beings see life and death. There are testimonies of people who had dared to dream and achieve their dreams.
    A large family learned to heal the wounds from their past and it shares how they live after accomplishing their emotional healing.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPalibrio
    Release dateDec 19, 2013
    ISBN9781463373146
    Under the Light of My Stars
    Author

    Antonia Garcia

    Antonia was born in Mexico. She lives with her husband in the city of Carson, California. Her two daughters, Ydania and Cristina and her grandchildren, Nelson and Noah have inspired her to undergo a personal transformation and make positive changes in her life. Her motivation is the hope that all of them will live a healthy life, having worked with all the areas of their lives. When she began opening her heart, she understood that childhood wounds and traumas were the filter through which she perceived the world. She understood that behind every person there is always a reason why they are the way they are. When Antonia found this knowledge, she stopped feeling like a victim and thanked the people and experiences of her childhood. All those experiences were the ones that had to occur in order for her to become the person she is today. She transformed those experiences into personal well-being; for herself and for the future generations. She loves her family and dreams that all human beings find their truth. This truth will set them free and allow them to be truly happy. Antonia always liked to write since she was a little girl. Nowadays she spends time writing reflections and thoughts. Writing this book was an unforgettable experience.

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      Book preview

      Under the Light of My Stars - Antonia Garcia

      Copyright © 2013 by Antonia Garcia.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

      The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Rev. date: 25/11/2013

      To order additional copies of this book, contact:

      Palibrio LLC

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Suite 200

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      Toll Free from the U.S.A 877.407.5847

      Toll Free from Mexico 01.800.288.2243

      Toll Free from Spain 900.866.949

      From other International locations +1.812.671.9757

      Fax: 01.812.355.1576

      orders@palibrio.com

      507122

      Contents

      First Chapter

      Second Chapter

      Third Chapter

      Fourth Chapter

      Fifth Chapter

      Sixth Chapter

      Biography

      ~ Acknowledgments ~

      ~ Summary ~

      ~ Strong and Determined ~

      Endnotes

      One night under the light of the stars, my soul whispered,

      and I understood what my destiny was.

      First Chapter

      The Maravillas ranch was a wonderful place in los Altos de Jalisco¹ with a large river and green mountains surrounding it like a ring. From the high cliff, the small houses could be seen with a string of smoke coming out from the kitchen chimneys and the green corn fields made the view even more beautiful.

      The large country estate was high on the mountain. It was the year 1904 and its occupants were a high society family. They had servants working inside and out of the farm.

      Hilario Becerra, a young man from the city of Torreón, Coahuila, arrived there looking for a job. He was hired to work in the fields and over time he proved himself to be hard-working and responsible. The land owners promoted him to foreman. He was in charge of the other workers and made sure they fulfilled their assigned duties. The farm owners often visited their friends in Mexico City.

      In one of those trips they met a joyful, beautiful young girl, who was also an excellent cook. She was the oldest of three girls and became an orphan at the age of thirteen. At that point, she started to work as a baby-sitter and later as a maid. One day when the family came to visit, they offered her a job at the Maravillas ranch. She was only seventeen years old when she decided to accept the offer with one condition; that her two younger sisters could go along with her.

      Maria arrived at Maravillas to start a new life working as a cook for the family. This charming young lady with big eyes liked to sing, dance, joke and kid around. She enjoyed socializing and interacting with others. Her greatest virtue was patience.

      Hilario, in contrast, was serious, did not like to dance, and would rather listen than talk. He was impatient, but his greatest qualities were humility and being respectful. Hilario showed interest in Maria and did not take long to propose to her. Without a second thought, Maria said, "Yes." After they got married they went to live at a nearby ranch. This place was different from Maravillas, as it was dry and had very little vegetation. What they did find was an abundance of maguey plants. (Agave Americana)

      The maguey plant is very similar to agave, but does not produce tequila. It produces a clear liquid called agua-miel (honey water) and has a sweet taste. The locals would make use of the maguey plant by making a hole and cutting its center and removing the leaves. They would then scrape the excess pulp and dig into the hole another 10 inches deeper. This used to be done in the afternoons. Juice was collected the following morning. The hole was covered with a rock to keep the juice away from the animals. If there were children in the household, they would take turns taking the jar of clay to extract about a liter of juice and bring it back to the house.

      They would let the juice ferment so it turned into pulque; an alcoholic drink similar to beer. The juice could also be cooked until it turned into honey. It was given to children in the mornings to protect them from developing tuberculosis. People did not know what tuberculosis was. All they knew was that when someone had tuberculosis they died of this disease because they had gotten a hole in their lung.

      The Picazo family from the Las Palmas ranch had an additional use for maguey. The leave of the plant provided the bristles they used to make ropes for their charreadas (small rodeos) and lassoing their cattle. They also made slingshots. They used them as a tool for hunting and self-defense. The rock used inside the slingshot was thrown with such force that any animal or person on the receiving end would be severely injured or killed. They would comb the maguey leaves with a brush until all they had left were white strings, which were used in a little machine to weave by hand. They were very creative in their weaving and made beautiful ropes.

      Hilario and his family, in contrast, worked raising cattle and farming. They were well-off financially and had enough to live.

      Across the creek there was a little house where a family that came from El Carrizo, a neighboring ranch, lived. It was the family of Toribio Villalobos and Josefa Padilla. He was born in El Carrizo, and she was born in another ranch called Verdolagas. Toribio was a cheerful jokester who enjoyed parties and good mezcal (alcoholic beverage). He was raised in a strict and harsh environment and as a result, he became short tempered. He treated his children the same way he had been treated by his parents because he knew no other way and taught them to respect him through tough love. Defending the honor of his name was of utmost importance. Although he was a man of strong character, his greatest virtue was being kind to others and supporting those in need. His wife Josefa was a very quiet woman who kept to herself. She was withdrawn, but did enjoy seeing her family getting together. Her greatest virtue was her faith in God. Their ranch was called La Loma de los Colorines, named after the trees in the area. They had pods that contained bean-shaped red seeds. When they were rubbed against a rock they would heat up so much that they burned one’s skin. From the adobe house you could see the canyon also known as the mina. Several years prior, the people who had previously lived in the area found gold. Once they collected the gold, they went on their way and disappeared.

      It was the beginning of 1909 at Las Palmas ranch when Hilario and Maria were about to become parents for the second time. On June 23, 1909 Maria gave birth to a girl. They named her Agripina, as it corresponded to the date and the saint on the religious calendar. Their first child was male and they named him Jesús. After Agripina was born, Maria gave birth to seven more children: Pánfilo, Dolores, Maria Guadalupe, Francisca, Felipe, Basilisa and Crúz.

      On December 26, 1910, Josefa gave birth to a boy. He was baptized with the name Esteban. He was the couple’s fifth child. His older siblings were; Pascual, Sidronio, Jesús and María del Refugio. His younger siblings were Brigido and Teodora.

      Toribio made a living making lime. Making lime required hard-work. They first had to dig the ground to extract the white quarry stones. They placed them by forming a pyramid shape and covered them with adobe bricks. They made those bricks themselves by stomping dirt with their feet until it turned into mud. They placed the mud in little molds and let them dry under the heat of the sun. Trees were cut for firewood, which was thrown in a hole under the oven to keep the fire burning day and night. This would keep the temperatures very high to dissolve the rocks so they would turn into the white dust known as lime.

      They also made coal and the process was very similar. They would make a pyramid with logs from mesquite trees. They covered them with adobe bricks and let them burn, being careful not to let them be consumed by the fire. They would put out the oven and break the burned logs into smaller pieces which they put inside the burlap sacks. Toribio sold the coal in the closest town; San Juan de los Lagos. Several merchants arrived there to exchange their wares because it was a famous town. An image of Virgin Mary, known to all in Mexico as the miraculous Virgen de San Juan, was worshiped there. It would take him a full eight hours to make the round trip mainly because he carried his orders and transported them by donkey. He distributed his profits among his sons as he saw fit.

      In 1926 the Cristero² Revolution started in Mexico under the government of President Plutarco Elías Calles, who had decreed that Mexicans had lost their religious freedom. In 1929 the revolution was coming to an end and there was an atmosphere of sadness. There was no freedom to worship whatsoever. The churches had been looted by the Federal forces as they yelled: "Viva Cristo Rey!!! - (Long Live Christ the King) - Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe!!" (Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe). A large number of people had been executed or tortured and hung in public places. There were 250,000 casualties between the Cristero civilian forces and the Mexican army.

      The elderly would sit around the town squares to discreetly discuss what was happening. They shared the stories of priests who had inexplicably survived in spite of the harsh torture they had endured at hands of the army, also known as Los Federales. They would discuss ambushes and battles occurring in Tepatitlán, another town in Los Altos de Jalisco. They talked about the people who had lost their lives in combat. These were brave men everyone admired, like Commander Enrique Gorostieta Velarde, whom the Cristero forces had hired for a large sum of money. General Victoriano Ramírez, nicknamed El Catorce, was another revered figure. He loved adventure and was not religious at all. One time when he we was passing by Los Altos de Jalisco with two of his men, he witnessed how a church was being looted. The priest was hung and the images of Christ in the cross thrown to the fire. He killed a few soldiers while others ran away, and then proceeded to lower the priest to hang a soldier in his place. He galloped away at full speed on his horse and the army wasted no time in going after him. They found him hidding in an abandoned house. He was not easily intimidated and killed 14 soldiers by himself. At the end of the battle, he looked at his companions and said, "Now we are Cristeros." They galloped away on their horses and found a group of Cristeros and joined them. Everyone called him by his new nickname, El Catorce, because he had killed fourteen men in combat.

      Many stories were engraved in the hearts of the families who had participated directly or indirectly in the battle field; women and children had also joined the Cristeros. Men and women were kidnapped, locked up and interrogated to find out where the priests were hiding. If they refused to speak, they were severely punished. A few, although risking their lives, were able to escape.

      The revolution was ending in 1929, but people felt uneasy about the safety of their well-being. Despite the fear people experienced when going out to public places, young people put their fear to the side and were eager to go to the town square to meet and court each other. Young men would look for opportunities to see the young ladies at the San Juan de los Lagos town square and give them a flower, a love letter, or even just a sincere smile.

      The French and the Spanish had chosen Los Altos de Jalisco to settle their communities. This happened many years prior. The people in that region had the physical traits of the Spanish and French with fair skin, and some even had green or blue eyes. Esteban was a tall and thin young man with very fair skin and light brown hair.

      Image16598.jpg

      Agripina was a short, dark skinned young lady with a deep gaze in her eyes. She had the typical traits of

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