Many are the women who have fought necessary battles to
claim their own right to live a free and fair life, for themselves, for their
families and for those in need.
Josefa has been one of those women that has stood up and fought
the good fight.
As a young girl, the eldest of her family of 9 siblings, she
was raised, “En un ambiente de servitud;
las mujeres, sirven a los hombres de la familia.” (Women are to serve men”)
Although Josefa learned the traditional roles of a woman; to
respect and serve the men and to care for the children, she did not do it with
a bowed head. Josefa was a proud woman and
she knew that a woman’s place was to serve out of a sense of Love, not duty to
some false sense that a man was in some way superior to a woman.
In a culture and a time where women were duty, bound and
tied, Josefa struggled to hold true to service in Love and fight against the
injustice of being thought of as less, because she was a woman.
In her own words, Yo era muy pelionera. Me llamaban “Juana
Gallo” because if anyone disrespected her younger siblings, she would make sure
to stand up for them and strike a blow or two for justice.
But Josefa grew up in a home where a woman was the first one
up in the morning, patting the masa back and forth between her hands to make
fresh tortillas, and allowing the inviting smell of tortillas cooking on the
comal, be the call for all to awaken to the day. Feeding the family and sending
them off with meals for the day was followed by long hours of doing chores by
hand, chores now made easy by our appliances.
As the eldest child of the family, Josefa wanted to help
provide for her family and took a job as a nursing assistant in a Catholic
hospital. She took the job even though her father wanted her to stay at home.
She chose her path, worked with pride in the hospital and when one of the nuns
treated her with disrespect, giving her just the most menial cleanup jobs, she
chose to walk away. The mother superior called her back and convinced her to
continue her good work in the hospital, which she did, bringing her earnings
home to her father and mother.
Along this time she met Arturo, her true Love, although then,
he was just a young man who impressed her with his good looks, good manners,
wit and charm.
Arturo would come to the hospital at the end of her day to
walk her home and the nuns confronted Josefa about the intentions of this young
gallant, and she assured them that he was kind and respectful. Arturo however,
was also a man, “en la busca por una mejor vida”, so he emigrated to San
Francisco leaving Josefa behind, while he made his better life.
Josefa stayed in Nuevo Laredo and took a job at a
factory. It was there that an employee’s
careless actions, resulted
in an injury to Josefa that broke her pelvis and she remained hospitalized for
three months. She received a meager monetary settlement from the factory,
but it was that money which gave her the resources to pay for legal counsel and
apply for citizenship papers for herself and her family. She was a young woman taking on
responsibilities beyond the expectations of her gender and limited experience,
but she pushed forward with the help that God provides when there is important
work to be done and when the work was done, she walked with her brothers and
sisters legally across the border, leading them to a better life, and a home
she helped pay for with her settlement.
Arturo eventually came back for her and although she
cautioned him that she had suffered injury and feared she was not whole, he did
not see her as broken and promised that love would heal the wounds. They were
married and Josefa often told the story that on their wedding night, Arturo
brought her back home to her father and said he would return for her in the
morning. She saw that as a great sign of respect and moral character on my
father’s part; and she was right. Her husband Arturo, my father, was a great
man and I thank my mother, for she could not have chosen a better husband nor a
better father for her children.
Arturo brought her here to San Francisco and they enjoyed a
great life here, spanning 54 years. Josefa raised her family like she was
raised, with stern words and a firm hand, yet time and the love taught her to
soften and to open her heart to her children, to her grandchildren, to her
great grandchildren and to the extended family and friends her children brought
into her life.
Through the church and her community life she has been of good
service to those less fortunate: joining in efforts to raise funds for the
orphans of Salamanca, taking into her home the sick and homeless, providing a
home for her family when they were in need, visiting the sick in hospitals,
standing up for those in need.
She always found ways to keep fighting for those in need or
those oppressed.
I think in all her life, Josefa did not forget her humble
beginnings, nor did she forget the example set by her mother Lupe, who would
make tacitos for the homeless that wandered by their doorway hungry and even
feed babies her own mother’s milk, when their mothers could not.
Josefa was a proud woman, she fought the good fight, learning
over a lifetime how to fight for a good cause and how to stop fighting, for the
cause of Love. She raised a good and caring family and has proudly enjoyed many
birthdays and many weddings with her 4 children her 10 grandchildren and 11
great grandchildren.
She celebrated 54 years of marriage to a great man.
She has been rich in friendship and enjoyed much laughter
and lots of dancing with her loyal circle of friends, who have kept her spirits
high after the passing of Arturo. Just a few months ago, she celebrated a
wonderful Christmas with her family in Laredo, her sisters, brothers, nephews,
nieces and extended family, reunited y pasandolo bien.
In her final days,
mom was lovingly cared for, not only by the women of the family, but also by
the men of the family. Jess, Fili, Juan,
and Alex assisted her in all aspects of her care; none of the men relinquished their
responsibility. Mom taught us to love, serve, and support our loved ones and
the community at large despite our gender. All should serve in the name of
love. Our family will now carry on those virtues, and if needed we will channel
the spirit of , “Juana Gallo” to help fight for love and what is right, so look
out!
And now, I am here, as her daughter, to say that from what I
can see, my mother has lived a good and full life. And in her name, I thank all
of you who have been so important to her, as her family and her friends.
Dicen que los muertos no se pueden llevar las riquesas de
este mundo, pero estoy segura que mi mama se lleva el amor de todos aqui. (They
say the dead cannot take earth’s riches; but I am sure my mother has taken with
her all the love that is here today…)
Vaya
con Dios mami; The angels await you, your parents Juan and Lupe await you, and
your love eternal, Arturo, awaits you. Go and basque with them in the light of
paradise and continue dancing, laughing, and rest in eternal peace….One day we
shall meet again....
