FRIDAY DON LUPE FUN FACTS

Our Gramps was born in 1919 and our grams in 1920. This marked the end of the Mexican Revolution. At this time the revolutionary groups that rose among the poor overturned Porfirio Diaz. During Diaz’s years in office Tepetongo was torn apart by fighting and roaming bands of soldiers who would ride into town by surprise. Both the federales and the revolutionaries would end up doing the same thing; take food, supplies, horses, money and kidnapped women. The pretty women were at greater risk of being kidnapped and our Mama Tila was a beautiful widow at the time and for fear of being napped she remarried. In 1920 Grams was born. Go forward about 20 years to 1942-43. This is the period during World War II when the Mexican government made an arrangement with the U.S. government to bring in Mexican agricultural workers to U.S. growers. This was called the Bracero Program that worked as a guest worker program that went on from 1942-1664. This program sponsored 4.5 million Mexican workers. AND WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO THE GONZALEZ FAMILIA? This happens to be one of the primary reasons why we are not living in Tepetongo and working in the fields. Our Gramps was one of those 4.5 million workers that were part of the Bracero Program (I think Julio was also part of it too). The end of the Bracero Program marked the beginning of Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers. During our Gramps’ work for the BP he worked in San Francisco (some where around Dickson, CA) and then in the desert picking dates off of trees. After his long career in the farms he landed a gig in a car wash in Pomona, CA. In 1963 he returned to Tepetongo for his mother’s death. Upon his return to L.A. he worked in a cafeteria for Farmers Insurance and from there, his most famous gig, the Hilton. So I would like to take this time to give a moment to Gramps’ hard work and determination for allowing a brand new generation of Gonzalez to live in a land of great opportunities. Thanks Gramps! 

Adeedodoo love her Gramps!