Dear Alicia and Emilie:
Thank you so very much for sharing your experiences and insights
regarding cultural identity.
Your remininiscences remind me of one of the first "rules" of
genealogy - to always start with what you know best, yourself. For
myself, it is advice I have NOT followed, though I am always quick to
remind others. Perhaps one day ;)
I grew up in the 40's & 50's in southern California. Although I am
sure I heard a lot of Spanish at home before starting school, and
probably spoke with those family members who spoke no English, once I
started school, English was all I spoke, and English was all my
parents spoke to me, probably recalling punishments, etc, for
speaking Spanish in school when they were growing up. So I am not
bilingual, and I married a gringo (Anglo mongrel, with possibly some
Cherokee). We have 5 children - three with a Spanish middle name,
and two with first names, Laura and Elena. (The other middle names
are Maria Silveria, Joaquin, and