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I've known many
of the descendants of the Familia Galicia Tapia since September
of 1996 and I've tried to piece together the details of their
history. As near as I can gather, the story is...
The family originated
in the town of Yolomecatl, Oaxaca (click
here for a map). Ruperto worked as a mule trader. He
would walk to the Pacific coast, to buy mules or donkeys and
walk them back to the town. I imagine this was a trip
of some 450 km, each way. There might have been bus service
or he might have had a horse. In any case, the round trip
probably took a month. I understand that this provided a reasonable
living.
I don't know why,
but in about 1950, Ruperto and Aurora decided to pick up the
family and look for greener pastures in Mexico City.
They had three children at the time, Guille, Chabela and Toña.
Toña was three at the time. They must have had to walk
to the nearest highway with bus service, at least 60 km.
Once in Mexico,
Ruperto's skills as a mule trader were probably not much in
demand. Aurora and the girls started by selling doll's
clothing. They later graduated to people clothing, shoes,
etc. There were more children, seventeen in total, but six
died in child birth or while very young, eleven survived.
Aurora, must have
been an amazing woman, before she finally passed away, in
about 1992, they owned their own home, in Iztapalapa (then,
a suburb of Mexico City) and had purchased a plot of land
for each of her eleven children.
I believe that
the majority of the second generation achieved a high school
diploma or equivalent and in the third generation, the majority
graduated from university or college. The family continues
to get together for weddings, birthdays and first communions
several times each year. Perhaps, what is most touching, for
me, is that dozens of family members return to Yolomecatl
each June to celebrate the town's annual festival and visit
the gravesite of Aurora and Ruperto.
Here
are some pictures of the home town and the annual festival
honoring Santiago Apostle. |
