Well, returning to SLP was totally unplanned. And as most unplanned things, it ended up being one of the most amazing parts of this trip!! A gut feeling I had in Oaxaca had me considering going back to SLP for Dia de los Muertos to celebrate at my newly-found great-great-grandmother’s grave. And so I followed that feeling - and am extremely grateful for it!
Great-great-grandpa Manuel C.
If you’ve been following along, you know that on my first stop to SLP I was able to find my great-great-grandmother Adelaida’s grave, but not my great-great-grandfather’s (Manuel C.). So, day 1 back in SLP I headed to the cemetery to give it another shot. Turns out, the groundskeeper who had helped me the first time around was at the office right when I got there... and recognized me! He jumped right in and offered to help me search for the grave again. This time around was a little less tricky since they had been cleaning up the graveyard i.e. mowing/trimming to get ready for Dia de los Muertos. We went back to the general area we thought Manuel C. was buried in and searched and searched. All we knew was the general section, and the grave number. But since 1902 (!) there have been a lot of additions to the graveyard, changes in numbering, etc. Meaning, despite having the info and knowing Manuel C. was there somewhere, it was quite tricky to find. What we were able to do in the end was find two graves with the same year of death that also had the old numbering system noted on them. From there, we counted down the plots until we found the number we were looking for. Since we were able to do this from two directions, we are pretty dang certain to have found Manuel C’s grave!
You can tell poor Manuel C. hasn’t had any visitors in a while… his plot was literally a pile of bricks. The headstone was long gone so there is nothing stating he lies there. After talking to my grandma (hey Maggie!) about the cool find, we decided to have a simple headstone made. And thus the next adventure began. Where oh where do I order a headstone? After asking my friends at the hostel, they told me there were some people who make headstones right near the cemetery (makes sense lol). So, the next day I went to seek out a headstone! Lo and behold the owner of the shop was super nice and told me it could be finished and installed by the coming Monday. WOW! I couldn’t believe my luck. After knowing how long it’s taken the family to get Grampa Carl’s headstone in Houston, I thought for sure it wouldn’t be possible. But as the Mexicans say: si, se puede!
Finally, Monday arrived and I headed off to the cemetery to meet up with the headstone guys. I got to their workshop and... was told they completely forgot to do the engraving! The stone was there, the stencil placed and ready, just no engraving yet... I went ahead and went to the graveyard with one of the workers to show him where the plot was and so he could see what he was working with for the installation. They then confirmed the next day at 10 am everything would be done and we could install the headstone. Tuesday morning I arrived as they were just finishing cleaning up the stone. We met up at the plot, and they secured the stone to the grave. It was an emotional moment for me. It just felt really, really good to be able to have his name there. To know that he is not forgotten.
Santa Maria del Rio - Our Hometown
When returning to SLP I knew I wanted to take advantage and visit Santa Maria del Rio again. SMdR is about a 45 minute drive south of SLP. I had visited before, but with a group tour so we simply stopped by to see the local crafts, eat the local baked goods, and continue on to the next stop. Since I have documentation that my great-grandfather Manuel (yes, another Manuel… there are like 3 or 4 in the family!) was baptized here, I assumed he was also born here. My mission was to find documentation of his birth. I went to the first governmental office I could find and told them what I was looking for. They sent me to a second office, which was also the wrong one. However, they were super nice and had 2 guys accompany me to the correct office just a few blocks away. I went in and told them what I was looking for. Due to the timeframe (aka him being born in 1892) they weren’t sure if they still had the documents… but they did! I was told it would take a few days but they would look through the books for me. Since I was there, I also asked if there were any other materials or documents I could possibly find there - family trees, addresses, etc. Unfortunately not. But, the woman helping me seemed very intrigued by my quest and said that there was a store in town owned by a family with the same last name as Manuel and suggested I stop by and ask. So off I went!
I got to the store and saw two elderly men sitting at the entryway. They must be part of the family! So, I told them I was looking for distant family and one guy basically shooed me away with a mean look. Oh well… onto the next person. I waited for the cashier to have a quiet moment and told her my spiel: on a quest to find family, and someone told me the owners of the store had the same last name as my family. She gave me a weird look but then called upstairs to her boss and told her to come down. That’s when I met Yolanda. I explained the whole thing again. Her first question was: who was your great-grandfather? I gave her the name and she turned to one of the two older men - her uncle Joel. He seemed to vaguely remember his dad mentioning having a brother named Manuel at one point. So the next question - who were Manuel’s parents? Turns out the same people as Joel’s dad’s parents! Whaaaaat!!! Confirmed!! I literally stumbled upon my grandma’s cousins, just hanging out at the family store! We exchanged some more info and facts until Yolanda told me that one of her aunts owned a liquor store close by, I should go say hi. Carmen was the third person I met who is my grandma’s cousin. We had a great time sharing info, going through timelines, and trying to figure out why Manuel and Anastacio didn’t stay in touch. In their family, Manuel was literally considered the sibling who up and left, disappeared, and was never heard of again. And here I come out of the blue being like “hi fam!”.
After visiting with my Tiabuela Carmen at the liquor store, Yolanda invited me to have lunch with her sister, her dad (the guy who had shooed me away lol), and their kids. We had a great time talking and learning about each other's lives!
The next day I went back to the municipal office to see if they had found the papers I was looking for - no luck. But that’s ok. I gave the woman a little thank-you gift for helping me connect with these long lost relatives. She was super excited that they were indeed my family :) Later on, Yolanda was kind enough to take me on a little scooter ride to the cemetery to see the family graves there. Another amazing moment!
A few days later I got a text from Yolanda inviting me to her sister’s birthday party. I definitely wasn’t going to miss out on that! So, I headed to SMdR once again, got picked up by scooter, and taken to my tia Yiria’s house where I got to enjoy tasty carnitas, micheladas and tequila, live music, and just had a fun time hanging out with all the distant relatives.
Querétaro - More Family!
But it doesn’t end there. Yolanda mentioned that a fourth aunt lived in Querétaro and had pictures to share. So, I booked a bus ticket and headed on my merry way to meet my Tiabuela Coco. To my surprise, when I arrived at the bus station it wasn’t just Coco waiting for me, but also my mom’s second cousin Magdalena and her husband - wow!! We went to Magdalena’s house to check out her photos and figure out where we each had gaps to fill and information to share. It was so interesting and fun! Once our brains were full to the brim, we headed into to town to see a bit of the Halloween/Dia de los Muertos celebrations. The next day we met up again for breakfast at Coco’s house where she shared even more photos and we were able to fill in some more of the gaps we all had. Because, the more info we found out, it seemed the more questions we had! It was an absolutely amazing visit and I am so grateful to have received such a warm welcome.
And who knows, I might have to return again soon… my cousin’s Quinceañera is coming up in May…!
That's all for now!
Hasta pronto :)
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That's amazing. TP
Amazing!!
That's such great information!!!! Glad you had such a good time and that they were so receptive. I think they will want to hear from you in the future. Yes, you should return if you can. Great job! Auntie M
All those tios and tias and abuelas and cousins I just can't believe we have so many more new relatives!
Yea for that research. Good work Annamarie, our family ambassador. MD
You are such a wonderful, resilient explorer! I am loving hearing your adventures...keep on, girl!