02/08/2025
My mother LOVED music & I believe this is where my love for music came from. For her it was an expression of emotion, of feeling, of sorrow, of joy. Ultimately of LIFE 🙌
Abba’s “Chiquitita” is very special to me as it was the one she played for me as a child to cheer me up, and she sang along with; as you can see by the fourth pic, I was quite the sad little girl. 👧🏻
Earliest memories are of her singing The Beatles “I wanna hold your hand” to the Mexican singers she grew up with. Vicente Fernandez, Lucia Mendez, Pedro Infante, etc.
When going thru her possessions, I came across a few cassette cases with meticulous written liner notes and song titles, from the Beatles, to my own Simon and Garfunkel, Johnny Rivers, to traditional Mariachi, Lucia Mendez, Linda Ronstadt. She even had the Best of the Doors. That is her small writing in the upper right side and mine on the lower left.
The legacy my mother left is huge and immeasurable. An orphan from Mexico who left her small town of Ciudad Juarez to come to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, who forged her own path primarily on her own. Landed in Berkeley in the early 70s and never left 🥹
My mother was the strongest woman I know, raised two children on her own, an immigrant —who overcame so many barriers including sexism and racism in the workplace and beyond. She was fiesty, a free-thinker, always questioning the status quo, independent, headstrong and didn’t care who you were, she was never intimidated by anyone. I owe her so much—- my independent spirit and love of music. My heart is truly broken. 💔
I was so grateful that I got to share her favourite tracks and ones I grew up with at her memorial service, which was beautiful, so diverse & so powerful. I’d like to think my Mum would have been very proud.🥹 🪽🕊️it’s taken me nearly a month to share —hoping it gets easier🙌🕯️
