It seems like forever that I last wrote. My excuse or reason is that the summer has been very hot, tieing and breaking temperature records. It is a time to be indoors before 1 p.m. and resurfacing after 6 p.m. when the temp is around 95.
Doing a little at a time, I scraped, sanded and painted the carport. The last time it got some paint, very little prepping was done, so it needed much work. I wish I would think of doing before and after pictures.
On the search for my family I have returned to the cemetery. I knew that my maternal great-grandmothers were buried in the Weslaco City Cemetery. I also knew that other relatives were buried there. I decided to find their cemetery plots and take pictures and document where they are located. It was a good plan, but....
Who's Who in the City Cemetery
Grandfather's mother - Maria Lugo (looking)
Grandmothers mother - Prajedis Alanis (found)
Grandmother's sister - Cirila Rodriguez (found)
Grandmother's brother - Mateo Elizondo (found)
Grandmother's sister-in-law - Maria Elizondo (looking)
Grandmother's sister - Paula Elizondo (looking)
Grandmother's brother-in-law - Abundio Vallejo (Looking)
"Cirila" is misspelled as "Sirilda" I am sure that this was before spellcheck.
Francisca was Cirila's daughter/ my grandmother's niece and Alberto her husband.
Mateo died in 1968.
My grandparents 2 days apart. (Interesting story.)
Maria Lugo (great grandmother)
I went to City Hall looking for the location of her grave. Using the latest in index card technology, he came back with a section, plot, and grave number. When I looked at the map, I knew that the information was incorrect. I used to take my grandmother to the cemetery on "visit the dead" days and I remembered my great-grandmother's grave being on the "Mexican" side. (Yes, the dead were also segregated.) The information from the city had her buried (1952) on the Gringo side. Who was she going to mingle with???
On the left side of the street was the Anglo side (it has been integrated). The markers are small or flush with the ground.
On the right side of the street is the Mexican side of the cemetery. The graves are adorned with an abundance of plastic flowers and wreaths for every occasion. This section of the cemetery is extremely crowded.
Maria Lugo did not have a formal marker. My grandfather made a mound of cement and embedded sea shells and marbles in it. Years later the cement, and decorations disappeared.
In the old days, before plastic flowers, a trip to the cemetery required a shovel, a bucket, and other gardening tools. We had to plant and weed and water, and clean. It was almost a day-long trip if we needed to make a stop all over.
Maria Elizondo
Maria Elizondo was my "aunt," through marriage. She was my grandmother's sister-in-law and was 99 when she died in Chicago.
City Hall has no record of her burial in 2001. However....
Another distant relative was walking through the flea market when she noticed a tombstone, with a name she recognized, Maria Elizondo. Apparently the family did not finish paying for the stone and it was repossessed. The relative called the police and got to take the stone to her house. She tried to put it back, but had no one to help her and could not pay the fees that the city was charging. The stone sat on her front yard for years. I drove past and did not see it, maybe it is a bench in the back yard. I continue to try and contact this relative to get the marker to the cemetery. The City needs to find the spot though.
Looking
I just recently asked the guy at City Hall to look for the grave sites for Paula Elizondo, Abundio Vallejo, I was told to return next week.
Monterrey, Mexico Cemetery- Update
You remember the entrance to Neverland. My paternal grandfather and aunt are buried here.
I was back in Mexico in July. I wanted to know who had purchased the plot. My thinking was that now that I found new relatives in Monterrey and all are between the ages of 67 and 80, there may be a need for burial real estate. If I could have the plot transferred to my name, I could authorize burials as needed. The plot is built for 5 and has 3 vacancies.
I forgot I was in Mexico.
The plot was bought by the aunt that is buried there. She bought it about 10 years before my grandfather died. I did not know that she was so future oriented. The cemetery is city owned. They do not sell or buy plots. If a family wants to sell their plot, they advertise or inform the cemetery to refer buyers to them. The cemetery is out of the transactions.
The only way to bury someone or exhume the remains is to present the cemetery the deed to the land. I have never seen a deed. The alternative is to go to court and have a judge rule that I am the legal owner of the property as all of my family is deceased. This entails buying, a lawyer, and a judge. The property might be worth $120,000 pesos or $9000 US. From what I have heard of these proceedings, they are drawn out a they tend to bleed money, especially if the client is American. I am still thinking of a way to save this property and the remains buried there.
I WILL CONTINUE DIGGING!
