The Essence of Az

By Ruben J. Burciaga

This book depicts characters in a land called Az. This world parallels our own in a variety of ways to the basic life in America, as seen by a child with a different culture. The Essence of Az follows the life of a man who dreams his way back to his childhood years, in wonderment of his grandparent's dream the

• Language: English
• Publisher: Writers Branding LLC
• Release date: May 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781954341661

Book preview

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Contents

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

History Behind the Story of Az

I want to thank my beautiful grandson Jacob. Without his little presence to keep me alive, this story may have never been written. Lots of love and thanks for my gorgeous wife Olga, she’s put up with me since our high school years. To my sons, for just being part of my life, their many talents are inexhaustible.

My mother Catalina Burciaga and my grandmother Luz S. Torres, their memories I shall cherish and all my wonderful brothers, sister, and relatives for believing.

Yes I’ve had a good life, never really was a perfect husband or father. But thank God for being there for me, through the bad and the good times.

Dedication

To my wife Olga, sons Ruben Jr. and Dino.

My grandsons Jacob and David (Mil-sons).

My mother Catalina Burciaga, grandmother Luz Salinas Torres

Brothers Manuel, Victor, Armando, Raul, and sister Rosa, and their families. All nephews, nieces, first, second and third cousins, aunts and uncles: Concha Rivera, Jose Torres, Maria Carrillo, Angelina Carmona, Joaquin Torres, Jesus Torres, Socorro Torres, Ruben Torres. My first uncle Jose Salinas and aunt Julianita, godmother Gennie. My in-laws Rosalio and Carmen Gonzalez and families. To Anthony where I was born and all friends and acquaintances in the Rio Grande Valley, Southern California, and Chicago.

Introduction

Folklore, legends, myths, and fairytales have been with us throughout the ages. Storytelling of passionate adventurerous hearts have piqued our interests, since childhood through our adult lives. Such adventures seem to capture our imagination, so that our dreams seem to be meshed with reality. And for those that have the vision to dream, may they do it with God’s blessing.

Our story involves characters in an imaginary land known as Az. Their struggles to empower themselves will begin a journey of tremendous odds. They must reclaim their inner-selves in a tale of hope. Aztlan signified a homeland for the early Aztec civilization. Their disappearance gave way to many stories, and the one that I carry is that of a Chicano, a country within a country.

Through these many years that our country has written upon its history for their people, a new awareness of empowerment has been needed within the cultures. We find ourselves asking the questions. Do we believe in a true commitment to empower our people and give them the freedom and space to prosper? Can the diversified races that make our country so great have a chance for greener pastures? With God’s blessing, I believe it can be done.

With music in our hearts and dreams of prosperity, we shall endure our hardships. We shall leave the door open for all our children, to love, work, learn, unite, and seek a better tomorrow.

We hold high expectations, so we can all see the future unfold with hope. Amigos, won’t you join me, with an open heart and a clear mind to travel down the open road, into the land of Az.

Chapter One

The Changing Winds

There was once a story about a boy named Ruben, who lived in the southwest area of the United States, along the Rio Grande Valley. This area was a rural farmland between the cities of Las Cruces, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. The land was fertile and many crops like pecan trees, cotton, corn, chile, and onions grew throughout the countryside. You could see dairy farms sprouting out, here and there. In those days, this part of the world had made a perfect balance, for someone young and absorbent to inherit the surrounding tranquility.

Ruben lived with his grandparents. His grandfather Jesus, was a first generation farmer, and grandmother Luz, a home-maker. His grandfather was a proud man working the land hard, year after year. He was a slender man, approximately 6’2" tall, with black hair and a moustache.

Grandfather Jesus also rotated jobs, he’d work in the chicken and cow stables, becoming an asset to the farm.

Ruben got a chance of seeing the birth of calves, pasturizing of milk, and the sorting of eggs, some of the many dairy chores that led to the up keep of a farm. The picking cotton season was also part of this culture, a job that required a high tolerance for heat.

When grandmother Luz would cook, you could smell the aromas in the kitchen as sweet as they were. First there was the wood burning stove, on which grandmother used for preparing the meals, some of the best this side of the Rio Grande river. Grandmother Luz also prepared homemade flour or corn tortillas, with spanish rice and refried beans. Plus many more recipes that have been passed down through the generations.

The family lived in a dairy farm area called La Price’s Dairy. They were allowed to live in a block-row housing called la cuadra, which was built by the ranchers to house incoming immigrants from Mexico. The cuadra buildings were built with two livable rooms, a bedroom, and a kitchen with an out-house. As the years passed by, his grandfather was granted use of the adjacent rooms, an added bonus for his many years of dedication to the farm.

These cuadras housed an in-coming labor force from Mexico, that in those days was at an all time high. They would stabilize a steady farm life for the worker, over their years of service. Some of these immigrants were allowed to have green cards, a legal means which meant a chance to stay in America and work for a duration of

time. It also gave the immigrants and some families a chance to eventually become United States citizens.

These early years of the Mexican immigration to America was liken to the earlier era of the Italian and Irish immigration of the past.

America was in need of a work force because it was occupied in fighting two simultaneous wars overseas. This made the borders to the south more attractive, hence becoming a workers avenue, to the Americas from the south.

Many immigrants came to work and make a better life. Mexico was a poor nation with very few jobs.

The Mexican people could not survive on their country’s wages. So they traveled here for a change.

The cultural differences and mixture of feelings that Ruben felt during this time period was like that of a foreigner living in his own country. He learned the difference of accepting and acknowledging the immigrant struggle.

This early time period in his life was for him to focus on his manhood and to understand what his grandmother Luz had bestowed for him.

His memories of grandmother Luz were that of unending love, warmth, and generosity. Her belief and faith in God was strong and there was so much hope in seeing, knowing, and loving her.

His mother (Catalina) and father (Francisco) were farm workers that had to move with the crop season. In those days, it was a way of survival. Ruben stayed behind with his grandparents until his early teenage years.

The reason his grandparents reared him at an early age was that Ruben had contracted Polio to the right foot, a crippling disease that ran rampant spreading throughout the country in the early 1950s.

Towards the mid-1950s, M.D. Jonas Salk discovered the vaccine that put an end to the Polio epidemic.

During this time in history, the government had set up centralized Polio hospitals that were designated for victims throughout each state. Ruben got to go to the Carrie Tingley Childrens Hospital, which was located in the city of Hot Springs, New Mexico, which was later renamed Truth or Consequences.

During Ruben’s latter years, corrective surgery was performed to the lower right foot. These surgeries allowed him to walk properly, and become a man with