Meire Marion's Corner...: Dad´s Side of the Family

First, I would like to thank the people who have helped me gather all the information: my cousin Cristina, my aunt Neuza, my cousin Valeria and my second cousin Neide. Without their help, the facts in this post would not have been possible.

My grandpa was named Luiz and my grandma Gracinda.

Grandma Gracinda was born in Pinhal, Portugal. Her father´s name was Francisco and her mom, Maria Antonia. They had 8 children two of whom died before the age of one and the other six lived long lives. One of grandma´s sisters, Mercedes, was born with Down Syndrome and at the time the doctors said that she wouldn´t live over 30 years of age, however, she died at 54 which was a medical wonder at the time. I had the pleasure of meeting my Great Aunt Mercedes. She loved holding my hands and caressing my long nails painted red. She was a prankster too. She faked her death several times. In the 80´s, it was more common in Brazil to gather the family at home around the person’s deathbed. Ana, her sister, the one who took care of her, called all the family members and the priest (more than once, if I am not mistaken) to pray while she passed. When she noticed that the room was full of people, she would take a deep breath and yell “Surprise”. I used to laugh whenever that happened. The last of the sister´s to pass was Great Aunt Ana , she was well into her 90´s. Grandma Gracinda was a wonderful cook, not only Portuguese cuisine but also Italian cuisine. My parents used to tell me that when I was a toddler, I would always go to my grandparent´s house at meal times and when Grandma asked whether I had eaten, I would lie so I could eat her wonderful pasta dishes. (At my house we ate a lot of soup). I loved spending time with her and in my teen years, after coming back to Brazil, I would go over and we would talk a lot. She was a big woman and had saggy arms. I know that I would pray for God not to give me her arms and, guess what? I have Grandma´s arms and also her cooking skills. Grandma Gracinda died on January 31, 1989. She had been suffering from dementia due to diabetes. She was a folk healer and while she was suffering from dementia, she used to see many children around her. I believe they were children that she tried to help but didn´t make it.

Grandpa Luiz was born in Pedreira, São Paulo, near Campinas. His parents were named Maria and José and they had 15 children, 4 died at birth and the others lived long lives but have all passed away. The youngest, Great Uncle Augusto, died well into his 90´s and looked so much like my grandpa. My aunt Neuza told me that Great grandpa Francisco died a few days after my dad had been born in 1940 and she only saw her grandfather José three times during her lifetime, at a very young age, therefore she doesn´t recall much about him. I used to love going over to Grandpa Luiz´s to listen to his stories. By the way, he was a carpenter. The last thing I remember was one afternoon in 1988, a few weeks before he passed, Grandma Gracinda was already bedridden, I was sitting in front of him and he was lying down on his red couch when out of the blue, he looked at me and said “You know that I am dying”. I tried to change the subject because the one who was sick at the time was grandma, but he went on saying that he would watch my back from wherever he went. Sadly, he passed the week after this event. I remember being called into my boss´s office , as soon as I sat down, the boss started by saying he had just received a phone call, I stopped him and said my Grandpa Luiz had passes and started crying. You see, the whole family was taking turns caring for grandma and grandpa was not a complainer even though he was feeling stomach pain. Grandpa Luiz passed with a full head of shining white hair and all his teeth, no cavities.

Grandma and grandpa got married in President Bernardes, São Paulo on October 8, 1932. They had 7 children with the help of a midwife. I remember my dad telling me the story of how he had hurt his right arm. You see, he couldn´t lift it. He needed to use his left hand to help him whenever he made the sign of the cross. He used to tell me that he was stuck in his mother´s womb for many hours, the midwife stuck her hand in, grabbed his arm and pulled him out. At the time, medical assistance was not available so they didn´t take him to one to fix the arm when he was a baby. They lived on a lot of land that belonged to my grandpa´s family. There were many people living on the land and when it came time to split up the lot (inheritance) they had a fight and Grandpa Luiz decided to move to the city of São Paulo for a better lifestyle, besides Grandma Gracinda´s family was already living there ( or should I say , here).

Back to the children. Grandma and Grandpa had 7, Maria, Alfredo, Alice, José, João (my dad), Neuza and Jorge. Unfortunately, the only one still alive is Neuza. On November 11, 1978 Uncle Alfredo died of complications from intestinal cancer. He had been suffering from it for two years. He was 42. Then on November 15 that same year, Uncle Jorge passed away at 24 of a heart attack. Aunt Alice died when she was 12. The story that I was told is that she died when she got her first period, the blood when to her head ( It was what people believed). My Aunt Neuza says she had a stroke, as we call it nowadays.

Aunt Maria married Uncle Augusto, lived in Campinas, had a small lot of land in Suzano ,where I went a few times. They didn´t have any children. Nevertheless, they did adopt a boy named Sebastião, however, that did not turn out well. What I recall is that the boy at the age of 18 robbed them and ran away. I also know that he came back at a much later time in life, already a married man, to apologize. Aunt Maria resembled Grandma Gracinda in so many ways. Her cooking was spectacular. I loved visiting them. Aunt Maria passed away in July of 1995. Uncle Augusto is still alive well into his 90s ( if I am not mistaken, he´ll turn 94 on January 31).

Uncle Alfredo married Aunt Ascensão and had four children: Roberto, Maria Ascensão, Luiz and Alice. They are all married and have their own families. Aunt Ascensão loved Carnaval and always danced for a Escola de Samba called Rosas de Ouro as a Baiana. I guess that this is why I love watching the desfiles ( parades) during Carnaval and cheer for Rosas de Ouro. I never met Uncle Alfredo.

Uncle José married Aunt Herminia, lived in Arujá and had three children; Maria Valéria, Luiz and Valquiria. Uncle José and my dad were pretty close and they looked pretty much alike too. My mom tells me that when she met dad, she knew he was the one. But her sister-in-law questioned her about how she knew who was who and to make sure she was choosing the right brother. Luckily, Uncle José was engaged to Herminia at the time. I remember when Uncle José passed away, September 9, 2013, dad was so heartbroken, but he looked at me and said that one day we would all have to go. Aunt Hermina was a special woman, sweet and humble, she lived her whole life with ½ a kidney, an inspiring woman. Every time we visited them in Arujá, the first thing she did was make coffee because she knew dad and I appreciated her coffee. She and I had a conversation a few weeks before she passed similar to the one I had with my Grandpa Luiz. Sadly, she passed away on February 24, 2008. Guess the chat we had was an until-we-meet-again talk.

Dad and mom, João and Helena, they met here in Brazil when mom was 20. She and Grandma Eva lived in front of a church. Dad was very active in that church and one day knocked on her door to ask for contributions for the church bazar that was coming up. Mom recalls that her sister-in-law – Aunt Nancy- was with her at the time and mom turned to her and said, “This man is going to be my husband one day”. And so, it happened, mom and dad got married on December 21, 1963 and had two girls in Brazil and one girl in the US. Meire -me-, Miriam and Melissa (US). Sadly, dad passed away on February 12, 2017. *

Aunt Neuza married Uncle Victoriano and had two children: Cristina and Cristiano. Aunt Neuza says that before my family and I moved to the US, I was always stuck to her, wherever she went I was there. She was still single and lived with my grandparents. We lived in the same yard but in the house that was towards the back. She says that I always asked her to prepare a lunchbox for me because I wanted to go to work with her. She said that one day she took me with her, and I was so proud to be there eating lunch together with her. It is too bad that I have no recollection of life prior to moving to the US - prior to 5 years of age. Until today she brings me a warm feeling when we are together. When Aunt Hermina passed, my cousins Cristina and Cristiano had the idea of having monthly gatherings with the cousins and aunts and uncles so we wouldn´t just meet at funerals and/or at weddings (at this time there were no weddings in sight). These gatherings have been important and have kept the memories of those who have passed alive. Naturally, not everyone can make it to all the gatherings, but they are enjoyable anyway.

Uncle Jorge and Aunt Lucia married and had one child, Eliane. As I have mentioned above, Uncle Jorge died when Eliane was around one. Lucia never married again for he was her true love. (I don´t call her aunt because of her young age). Lucia is a retired schoolteacher and Eliane has followed in her footsteps; she is also an educator. When we came back to Brazil in 1982, she was living with my grandparents and we stayed a few weeks in the house in the back of the yard while our house, across the street, was being renovated. I remember attending Eliane´s wedding and when she walked down the aisle I turned to dad and with tears in ours eyes and said, “You can see him, too”. Dad just nodded. (The hair on my arms are rising as I am typing this). Both of us saw Uncle Jorge. Mind you, I only knew Uncle Jorge before moving to the US. Dad used to tell me a story that when I was around two, I used to limp. My parents were so worried that they took me to many specialists in São Paulo to find out what was wrong with my legs. Nothing was found, but dad said they had to hold me down to remove blood, which explains my fear of needles. The doctors asked if there was anyone in my life who limped, and dad said that the only person was a friend of Uncle Jorge´s. The doctor asked him not to visit for some time and like magic, I stopped limping. I was just imitating the boy. I wish I had gotten to know Uncle Jorge better.

Well, I guess I have covered most of the information that I received. Hopefully, I will find out more facts and stories.

Written: January 24, 2021

*Story about mom´s side of the family http://alitbitofme.blogspot.com/2021/01/my-mothers-side-of-family.html

*Story about dad´s passing http://alitbitofme.blogspot.com/2017/02/

*Story when I found out about dad´s disease

http://alitbitofme.blogspot.com/2016/09/my-knight-in-shining-armor-has-met-his.html

Grandpa Luiz and Grandma Gracinda and the red couch

(1976)

Not a family memeber, Aunt Herminia, Grandma, Aunt Neuza, Aunt Maria, Maria´s sister-in-law, Aunt Lucia
Not a family member, my cousin Maria Valéria (1976)

Aunt Neuza, Aunt Maria, Grandma, Grandpa, João (my dad), Uncle Jorge and Uncle José
1976

Uncle José, Aunt Neuza and my dad (50´s)

Uncle Alfredo, my dad, Uncle José, Aunta Maria, and the small girl Aunt Neuza ( 50´s)

Grandma Gracinda, Uncle Jorge, Granpa Luiz (late 60´s)

Mom, dad and me (1967)

Grandma Gracinda, Miriam ( my middle sister) and me (1969)

Mom in her early 20´s

Dad in his early 20´s

Grandma Gracinda 1984

Grandpa Luiz 1984

Great Uncle Augusto

Grandma and Grandpa at a young age

The oldest photo that I have of my grandpa´s family.
The older women: Rosa and Maria
The older men: Toni,Valentim, João, Carlos
The two children: Augusta and my Grandpa Luiz.
My great grandmother holding Joaquim and my great grandfather next to her,
In this photo there are still two children missing ( they hadn´t been born yet)Julia and Augusto.
My gGrandpa Luiz is the second last to the right.