My parents were married in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico in 1928. They arrived in Canada in 1930 and I was born in 1932.


The Drums Beat Loud

The drums beat loud within my heart,
I hear them from ten thousand years.

My heart with love for parents gone,
And all generations to come are one.

With me and nature everywhere, the sun,
The sky, the earth, the water, mine.

And in me the strength to survive,
To go on to live to the full,

With friends everywhere, and more to come,
To enjoy everyday, hour, minute.

For that is what we have:
Time to live, to share....forever!

 

Many immigrants to Canada could not speak English and learning opportunities in the earlier years were limited. As a result of the heavy immigration years after the Second World War, the provincial and federal governments became involved in providing courses to learn either French of English. My mother never had that type of opportunity and as my father spoke Spanish, there was little need for my mother to learn English and the language of the home was Spanish with English coming into the home through radio programs and the occasional going out to the movies, and later through my friends.

 

 

My mother brought with her to Canada many songs and her culinary arts from Mexico as well as a love for flowers and plants many of which were in

the home and in the garden. What she found in Canada was a land quite different in land form, architecture and weather. As with many immigrants from much warmer climates, snow was a surprise to see and something to write home about. 

I remember in September 1939 reading the bold headlines to my mother, WAR IS DECLARED. War and warfare were not unknown to my parents for my father served in the military in England and France during the First World War and my mother lived through the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to 1920. In the 1920’s my father carried a Colt automatic pistol with the license issued by the military authority. Those were different times bringing forth individuals with distinct personalities and a toughened sense of self which contributed to their personal survival.