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| My grandmother Dolores Reyes de Irureta Goyena with my mother Filomena, uncle Antonio and aunt Dolores Nov 1919 |
Many weeks ago I received a request through my web page
to contact a gentleman called Mike Price. I noted that his place of origin had
the initials MI so I assumed he
was from Missouri (he is from Michigan). I do not know anybody from that State and his request for
info on my grandparents simply made me ignore that first request. My thought
was “Anything he might want to know I will not know as when I was young enough
to ask these questions of my mother and grandparents, I was much too stupid to
ask. And when I finally became curious I was an old man and all of the persons
who could answer my questions were dead.
But Mr. Price persisted and he called me up. Imagine the
surprise to find out that as soon as my grandmother married around 1910 she
embarked on a postcard mailing blitz and had friends all over the world. I
thought I knew my Abue (as I called her) well but this I never suspected and I
even wonder if my mother knew.
Then Mr. Price sent a postcard with my grandmother’s
lovely handwriting and his piece de resistance was my grandmother’s passport
photograph taken in 1919 when she, my mother Filomena, my uncle Antonio and
aunt Dolores left Manila for the Bronx via a Japanese steamer ( I only rememer the Maru part of the ship's name) that brought them
to Vancouver, BC and from where they took a train to Montreal or Toronto and
from there to NY City. My Abue often spoke of this place that had mountains and trees.When I am in downtown Vancouver I sometimes go into the old Canadian Pacific train station and sit in the cavernous hall and imagine the three (and Antonio in Abue's arms) walking across to their train platform.
Mr. Price, after seeing the photographs on my website told
me that he had the suspicion I had inherited the talent from my grandmother who
sang coloratura soprano and painted some lovely pastel flowers (with a Oriental
touch to them) that I treasure. I told Mr. Price that Abue saved me from many
spankings (chinelazos using a Filipino slipper called a chinela) by telling my
mother that like her I was an artist and that she should allow for it.
In fact from kindergarten onwards could draw and paint
very well. When we moved to Mexico City in
1954 I was told I was going to have painting classes. My teacher was an English
man called Robin Bond. In WWII he had used his expertise in London as an expert
on camouflage. In Mexico he earned good money interpreting for the b+w TV
network Televisa the colours for sets
that would best be seen on a b+w TV screen.
I took lessons until I was almost 14 and suddenly one day
I told my mother I could not paint anymore. I told her I was no longer going to
go to see Robin Bond. I remember well that at that age I was given a spanking.
My grandmother must not have been around.
Here to illustrate this blog is one of my framed paintings
from that period. I have two others, a wolf (that my rosemary says resembles a
burro) and an eagle. I am choosing the cat because Rosemary’s cat Casi-Casi and
I have been alone in this Kits duplex without her. She went with our two
daughters to visit relatives in Prince Edward Island and in Brockville,
Ontario. They return tonight. Both Casi-Casi and I will be very happy.
And thank you Mr. Price for proving that some pleasant situations
in this 21st century could have never happened in the past one.
Dear Alex,
Hello! I sent a
brief message through your photography website yesterday, but a now trying a
direct email to your listed address.
It's about your grandparents from the Philippines, mentioned in one of
your blogs.
First I wish to say
I looked through your on-line portfolio of portraits and found them absolutely marvellous.
I'm not a
photographer myself, but own a most extensive collection of photographs from
the Philippines, mainly from the years 1898 to 1946, altogether about 250,000.
I'm trying to
contact you because in my Philippine photo collection I have some pieces
relevant to your grandparents, I'll be writing something on that, and would
like to talk with you about them.
Please write, email
or call me anytime.
Thanks and best
wishes,
Mike Price
Dear Alex,
Hello, many thanks
for accepting my call yesterday evening, I'll try again soon. Meanwhile, attached here is an example of the
many photo postcards sent overseas by your grandmother, front and back, so you
can see what generated my special interest in her. And that's also why I suspected you inherited
your love of photography (and art, as you said) from your grandmother, even if
indirectly.
I recognize the
location of this photo as along the facade of Binondo church in Manila.
Your grandmother
evidently was unable to continue her overseas postcard exchanges when World War
I began in Europe in August 1914 for obvious reasons, her correspondents that I
know of were in Spain, France, Belgium, and the Ottoman Empire. She was obviously fluent in at least Spanish
and French (plus English of course, and Tagalog as you noted).
Hello Alex,
Am greatly appreciative of your patience and narrative
skills in telling me bits and pieces about your grandmother, and your extended
family and experiences and connections.
Attached here is a passport photo of your newly widowed
grandmother with her three young children, dated November 1919. In this photo, I can see a strong resemblance
of her to you, judging from a few photos of you I've encountered among your
blogs.
Maraming salamat ulit, Mike
Apparently she only began corresponding and collecting
postcards after her marriage to your grandfather Tirso Irureta Goyena, a
marriage probably around 1911, do you happen to know the exact date? He may have encouraged her. And/or the marriage may have given her the
leisure time or the disposable income to facilitate a latent interest. I have not found any postcards mailed by an
unmarried Dolores Reyes.
Best wishes, Mike
Michael G Price, Michigan Center, MI