1289
Interview in Spanish. Interviewee addressed as Lucina Gonzalez Loza.
Summary of Interview
Ms. González talks about her family and what her life was like growing up; in 1938, when she was fifteen years old, she married Cayetano Loza Ornelas, who was twenty-two years old; a year later, they had their first son, Juan; they went on to have thirteen children in total, six boys and six girls, but one son passed away; two of their sons, Juan and Manuel, enrolled in the bracero program; Juan enlisted when he was roughly thirty years old, and two years later, Manuel joined him at the age of twenty; although they did not earn much, the money they sent home went a very long way; their departure weighed heavily on Lucina, and she prayed for them daily; Juan told her that her prayers helped him survive in spite of all that he suffered; Manuel and Juan often brought small gifts home for everyone; Juan once brought a radio, and everyone loved it; she also describes how Manuel would have someone else write letters home for him, because he did not know how to write very well; she insisted that he write them on his own; when he did, she was the only one who could understand the letters; in addition, she talks about how life on the ranch changed when they were gone; Lucina goes on to explain which of her children later came to the United States; two of her sons, Juan and Pedro, live in Chicago, Illinois, and the rest of her children live in Manuel Doblado, Guanajuato, México.