My Life Story Edgar Galiñanes
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My Life Story Edgar Galiñanes Alicia Lamberghini-West, Storykeeper Acknowledgements The Ethnic Life Stories Project continues to emulate the vibrant diversity of the Springfield community. So much is owed to the many individuals from Drury University-Diversity Center, Southwest Missouri State University, Forest Institute, Springfield Public School System, Springfield/Greene County Libraries, and Southwest Missouri Office on Aging who bestowed their talents, their words of encouragement, their generosity of time and contributions in support of this unique opportunity to enrich our community. The resolve and commitment of both the Story Tellers and Story Keepers fashioned the integral foundation of this creative accomplishment. We express our tremendous admiration to the Story Tellers who shared their private and innermost thoughts and memories; some suffering extreme hard-ship and chaos, disappointment and grief before arriving here and achieving the great task of adjusting and assimilating into a different culture. We recognize your work and diligence in your life achievement, not only by keeping your families together, but by sharing, contributing and at the same time enriching our lives and community. We salute you! Special acknowledgement to: Rosalina Hollinger, Editing and layout design Mark Hollinger, Photography Jim Coomb, Mapmaker Idell Lewis, Editing and revision Angie Keller, Susy Mostrom, Teresa Van Slyke, and Sean Kimbell, Translation Lee Lowder, Data Transfer and Storage Heartfelt thanks to Kay Lowder who was responsible for organization and assembly of the stories. Jim Mauldin Ethnic Life Stories Project Coordinator. The Ethnic Life Stories Project.... .giving the Springfield community a window to its diversity through the life stories of ethnic elders. Liewe Se Storie Afrikaanse Afrikaanse (2) ŌSŌ GAY HĂY WŌ TAN Apache Arabic (2) Ga-no-du Ka-ne-he-lv-s-gi Cherokee Chinese (2) Life Stories English Histoires De Ma Vie French Mayer rah-Khaan Knee-Hindi Hindi Japanese Korean Malayalam Povestea Vie Ţii Mele Romanian La Historia de la Vida Spanish (4) Kuwento Ng Aking Buhay Tagalog Yiddish Birthplaces of the Storytellers Class of 2001 Class of 2002 Yohannan Abraham Ruth L.V. Burgess Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India Poona (Pune), India Janet Akaike - Toste Edgar Galinanes Kofu, Japan Mayaguez, Puerto Rico Martha Baker Edward P. Ksara San Antonio, Texas Tangier, Morocco Grace Ballenger Ioana Popescu Shanghai,China Bucharest, Romania Olga Codutti Josefina S. Raborar Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina Manila, Philippines Taj Farouki Juan Salazar Wadi-Hunayn, Palestine Tuman, Peru John Hernandez Ruth Penaherrera-Norton San Antonio, Texas Archidona, Ecuador Yung Hwang Cyril Vermooten Okjong, Kyungnam, Korea Beaufort West, South Africa Hyman Lotven Joy Vermooten Kapulah, Russia Nqaberie (Natal), South Africa Regina Lotven Tobby Yen Nancy, France Chung (Zhongshan), China Sterling Macer Mason City, Iowa Atlantic Ocean San Juan Aguadilla Arecibo Manati St. T Bayamon Carolina Utuado Fajardo Caguas Culebra PUERTO RICO Cayey Mayaguez MayaguezCoamo Humacao Vieques V SanGerman Yauco Ponce Isla Mona Guayama Caribbean S ea Edgar Galinanes Mayaguez, Puerto Rico Personal Acknowledgement I thank every person that contributed in one form or another for me to be able to write my life story from my birth through all the phases of life in different scenarios. To be able to write this story, has great importance to me, looking at the past I can see how my life has been sprinkled with sadness and happiness, that there are many years that I have lived, but I am still on the path that God has set before me without knowing when the end will be. My fondness to Mr. James Mauldin, for collecting all these life stories like mine, I thank him for his continued effort. My acknowledgment to the Ethnic Life Stories Project organization, for it’s mission and objectives with the community. With deepest appreciation to my dearest friend, Alicia Lamberghini-West, she led me into writing the story of my life and contributed a great deal in order to be able to develop this story and to reach it’s conclusion. Dedication With all my heart I dedicate this short story of my life to my dearest family; my son, Edgar Lorenzo, my daughter-in-law Jean Marie, and my grandchildren Edgar Luis and Jan Grabielle, to each of you, I dedicate these memories of my life. I wish that when my grandchildren grow up they can find in these pages images and stories of their grandparents, “mima” and “mimo,” these are the nicknames that the children bestowed upon my wife and I. As you can see, my entire life is interwoven with work combined with vacations which we enjoyed immensely. Here, there are many aspects of my life, my youth and my family. In my writings, there will be certain dates and moments to remember that would capture our souls. Introduction I am pleased to present the story of my dear friend Edgar Galiñanes. When I started to speak with him about this project, I never could imagine the impact his story would have on my life. His appreciation for the persons, his constant search for meaning, his gratitude for everything that he receives, his unfailing hope, all these things come through in every aspect of his life, like a compass guiding each one of his steps. He speaks to us about his hopes and his missions, about his constant effort to serve his community from different perspectives with practicality, drive, and from a profound human vision. His clear memories and his sensitivity for everything that he has lived, shows faithfully in this story. The author talks about himself and his family, but also covers world events and their consequences. He relates these as a true witness of the circumstances. In a very personal way, Edgar Galiñanes gives us his story, but it is much more than that. It is a testimony of life itself, and a testimony of an entire era. Alicia Lamberghini-West CONTENTS Chapter One: FAMILY HISTORY My Name My Birth Place of Birth My Parents My siblings Our Homes Chapter Two: EARLY CHILDHOOD AND MEMORIES Nicknames A Typical Day Food Our Religion Our House Rules At Home My Bedroom Our Pets The School Celebrations Funerals Special Memories Friends The Year 1917 USA and my Citizenship Working Conditions Prohibition Chapter Three: THE TEEN YEARS Introduction Education Transportation Traditions My Readings Television and Movie Theaters The Square The Depression Second World War Penicillin Gandhi The Civil War in Spain Nicaraguan Guerilla Warfare Chapter Four: ADULT YEARS Businesses My Engagement Our Wedding Our First House My Dear Wife Her Passing My Son My Daughter-In-Law God The Houses Where We Lived Our Dogs My Job The Origin of the “Penas” Havana Before the Cuban Revolution The Atomic Bomb Philippines Independence Post War The Salk Vaccine Soviet Union and The Cold War Kennedy Assassination Chapter Five: LIFE MISSION Years in Politics Nursing Home My Life Reflections To Be Rich Writings Chapter Six: SPRINGFIELD EXPERIENCE The Reason I Came How did we feel What I miss How do I feel now Cultural Interest Experiences of the Children My Integration My Comments Chapter Seven: LATER YEARS Introduction How is my Life My grandchildren My best Friend Things I would live again Wishes to future generations Chapter Eight: IMAGES OF PUERTO RICO The Typical Puerto Rico The Hurricanes Sayings CHAPTER ONE: FAMILY HISTORY My Name My full name is Edgar Galiñanes López de Victoria. I don’t share my first name with many people in Puerto Rico because it is Anglo-Saxon, not Spanish. My mother chose the name Edgar for two reasons. One was because of an aunt who was reading The Raven, which was written by an Edgar – Edgar Allen Poe. She told my mother that Edgar was a name full of history and that if the child my mother was currently expecting turned out to be boy, she should name him Edgar. Besides my aunt’s input, the King of England at that time was also named Edgar. That’s the story of how my mother decided to call me Edgar. My Birth I was born on April 21, 1917. I was not born in a hospital, in those days expectant mothers didn’t go to hospitals to give birth. Usually a midwife was called and she was the one responsible for taking care of everything during the birth. Being the last child, I was the baby of the family. For my older brothers and the rest of the family, I was the main attraction. The Birthplace I was born in the Juvenile Correction Institution, where my father worked as a director for more than fifteen years. The city of my birthplace was Mayaguez, the third largest city in Puerto Rico. I was born in the suburbs of the city in front of one of the most beautiful beaches on the island. This is where the institution that my father ran was located. A few months after I was born, we moved to the old city of San Juan, which was surrounded by fortified walls. Our language is the Castilian language, inherited from Spain. Most people worked on the sugar cane and coffee plantations. Those were the most important products of exportation. During harvest time, there would be fifteen giant sugar mills all in operation, milling the sugar cane. The sugar plantations during those years were spread throughout various regions where the cultivation of the sugar cane was more extensive. The biggest sugar plantations were North American properties, leaving the small properties to rich, local families. It’s possible that some of these properties were originally owned by Spaniards, during the Spanish colonization, because the greatest exportation from Puerto Rico during that time was sugar. As a historical reference, I can say that the sugar cane was brought by Christopher Columbus to the Canary Islands, the same as bananas, beef, etc., in his second voyage in 1493.