After my mother died two of my fathers sisters, Francisca and Carmen came to stay with us to help my father with all the children—there were six of us. However, they only stayed two or there months, leaving because we kids were undisciplined and unruly, especially me, the oldest, so they told my father.

My mother’s sister, Guadalupe, had been living with us in El Paso. She helped my mother take care of us and helped with household chores. It was like having two mothers having Lupe live with us. When my mother died my uncle Rito came to El Paso and took his sister back to Camargo because it was not proper for her to live in the same house with an unmarried man. However, when my father’s sisters returned to Camargo, Lupe came back to live with us and take care of us. Both the Chacon's and the Villanueva's were very upset because it was not proper. Lupe and my father were married about six months after my mother's death and I was very upset about that. To bring peace to the family my father decided to send me to live with his sisters so at age twelve I was sent to live with my aunts in Carmargo.

My father has four sisters and all of them lived in my grandfather’s house. Their names were Francisca, Carmen, Nieves (Innocencia) and Saturnina. The oldest, Saturnina, ran the house, giving orders to the servants, maids and cooks. She acted as the mother. Nieves (Innocencia) was the youngest; her health was not very good so she just worked tending the gardens. That’s all I remember about her. Francisca and Carmen were schoolteachers and never married. I didn't stay very long with my aunts because I missed my father, my brothers, my sisters and Lupe very much so I did everything I could to get back to them. Many years later Lupe told me that she came back because she could not stand to be away from us, she loved us and wanted to be with us.