Paco's Memories

By Linda Amnawah

Paco’s Memories is a collection of four fictional stories told by an elderly Hispanic man. These stories all feature characters of Puerto Rican heritage and are meant to inspire children to do good. Each story has a moral.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 19, 2001
• ISBN: 9781469707471

Linda Amnawah

Linda Prado Amnawah was born in New York City. She has degrees from Banard College, Teacher’sCollege, and Bankstreet College. Linda has taught in the NewYork City Public School System for the past twenty-three years.She lives with her husband and three children

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Paco’s Memories

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Linda Amnawah

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PACO’S MEMORIES

Copyright © 2001 Linda Amnawah.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

The Astoria House/Linda Amnawah

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P.0. 9072

Astoria, New York 11103

Tel; 718-274-4185

iUniverse

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-0-5952-0515-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4697-0747-1 (e)

iUniverse rev. date: 07/25/2023

Contents

Introduction

Paco’s Memories

How My Family Came to New York

The Rice and Bean Lady

The Nanny: Dona Laura and Nancy

La Gringa Loca

Paco Concludes

About the Author

Introduction

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Paco’s Memories is a book which depicts an elderly Puerto Rican man who spends his time telling stories to the neighborhood children to encourage them to do good in their lives. He conveys a positive image of Puerto Rican New Yorkers. Paco, The Fuentes Family, Dona Laura, and Yvette Torres are all people who lived and worked in New York. Through their hard work, they triumphed over many adverse situations.

All of Paco’s stories, as well as Paco, are fictional. Any similarity to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. The book represents life in a Puerto Rican community from the late 1920’s to the late 1990s. The characters each have a significance of their own. Paco came to New York as an adult because of financial hardship back home. Dona Laura came for a visit and stayed. The Fuentes children and Yvette Torres were born and raised in New York. They represent the new generation. They faced different challenges than their elders. Their common bond is their struggle to succeed.

Paco’s Memories

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He had been the best shoemaker in all of Puerto Rico! He bragged. No, he didn’t see it as bragging. He was just telling the truth. What is the difference between bragging and telling the truth? His sister said that bragging was telling the truth too many times.

Oh, well, he had been the best shoemaker in all of Puerto Rico. What if he liked to talk about it? He had freedom of speech. He wasn’t bothering anyone, was he? That’s a matter of opinion.

Paco sat like a king on his wooden milk crate. It was comfortable enough. The bodega owner was amicable and a good friend of Paco Martinez. He didn’t mind the old man sitting all day long telling stories. He didn’t bother to think about whether the stories were true or not. They were good and they were the best form of entertainment around. Paco told them for free. He wasn’t charging for these services. He was content to hear himself talk. This is the first one.

Juan Francisco Martinez was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico in 1899. The American army had just about defeated Spain and taken possession of the island. The Martinez family owned a farm on the outskirts of the town of Arecibo; they never lived within the town itself. His father, Juan Francisco, was of African and Indian descent. His mother, Maria, was flaxen and blue-eyed. Their marriage was controversial to say the least. They had twelve children. Paco was the oldest. Therefore, he was the first to work on the farm. His father, feeling that one had to have more skills, sent Paco into the town to apprentice with the local shoemaker. Juan Francisco never wore shoes, but other people did, and so shoemaking was a good trade. Paco worked especially hard and took pride in his work. He made shoes for the townspeople, and he made shoes for his mother, his father, and his younger brothers and sisters. Eventually, people came from other towns to buy shoes made by Paco. When the shoemaker died, Paco inherited the business—the shack and the tools used to make the shoes.

Paco’s younger brother, Julio, was coming of age and taking on more responsibility on the farm. This gave Paco more time to work in his shoe making business. Paco loved to brag that he was the best shoemaker in town. This was the truth because Paco was the only shoemaker in town. As a matter of fact, he was the only shoemaker within the region. Paco’s shop was in the middle of the town—that is the town as it was at that time. Therefore, he got to talk to almost everybody every day. Moreover, he was able to see and hear what happened all over the town and in the countryside. Paco worked assiduously and in a discreet manner. He never discussed his daily observations, not even with family members.

In 1929, Paco, married, and the father of two boys immigrated to New York City with his wife, children, mother, and brothers and sister. Most of his brothers were also married. They sold the family land and used the proceeds to settle in New York. Paco took the civil service test to become a New York City postal worker. Meanwhile, he worked in a restaurant as both the cook and kitchen cleaner.

Working as a mailman was fun for Paco who enjoyed the outdoors. He loved walking around and delivering mail. He loved talking to people during his rounds. His territory was inhabited almost entirely by people from his homeland. He spoke Spanish and was able to communicate with them. Again, Paco was observant and watched everything happening around him.

Years later, as an old man with more than enough time on his hands, he loved to tell stories of circumstances and people he had known or interacted with. Although the whole community seemed to enjoy his stories, he tried to reach the youngest members of society the most. Were Paco’s stories true? Were they embellishments? Were the stories just plain creations? Who cares they were witty and entertaining and that is what mattered to his listeners? The people of the barrio, especially the children, listened attentively.

How My Family Came to New York

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Puerto Rico in the early nineteen hundredths was a largely agricultural society. A large segment of society earned their living by farming. The Martinez family had always been farmers. Juan Francisco Martinez was a tall, lean, bronze, man who wore clothes made by his wife and never wore shoes. His feet were large and flat as planks. He wore a large straw hat to work in the fields. He joked and said that if he did not wear the hat, he ‘d get blacker than he already was. He wore the hat because the sun was so tepid it would have killed him if he didn’t.

Juan Francisco had a very interesting background. His mother had been born into slavery. She worked for an English family on the island of what is now St. Croix. Although she never went to school, she had learned to read and write a little by watching the lady of the house when she wrote letters. Doris was a bright, hardworking, little black lady who tried to learn and do her work well. She had a good family, and she did not want to be sold. In the mid-1800s there was a great deal of importing and exporting between Europe and their colonies. The slaves often picked up merchandise from their respective households. Doris was well known at the docks because she had grown up with the family. Doris often conversed with other slaves. Although she dared not speak directly to any of the white people at the docks, she often listened to their dialogues. She was surprised and delighted to hear that slavery had been abolished in the Spanish colony that was then San Juan. Doris had always longed to be independent. She was fortunate to have a good family, but she wanted to live her own life. She had never known freedom. Doris had never been able to make her own decisions. She had always been told what to do. Doris had seen fellow slaves been sold by families when the family needed money or simply grew tired of that vassal.

Doris began to think and plan.