Un Recuerdo

About the Book

Writing in Spanish in a style he considered poetic prose, he begins to remember how Christmas was in his youth. He briefly describes the village where he was raised. His parent’s home, now abandoned, comes back to life. He sees his father tending to the small grocery store that was their sole support, his father’s military career and love of learning, his loving and deeply religious mother, her devotion to the Holy Family in their search for lodging, and the birth of the Christ child in a manger all done through the traditional “Las Posadas” - a deeply religious and family celebration that culminates in the adoration of the Christ child followed by midnight mass and the traditional Christmas feast or “Tamalada”.

The poignant remembrance ends in a spiritual tribute to the family home as the spiritual bond that holds the family members together wherever they may find themselves in life.

"Un Recuerdo" was originally written in Spanish. It was later included in a family collection of 50 years of memories for their 50th wedding anniversary in 1999. It was then that it was translated into English by the author.

About the Author

Elías Galván was raised in a traditional Mexican American family in the small rural village of Central, New Mexico which is nestled deep in the Rocky Mountains of the State. In his desire to attend college he moved his growing family to Los Angeles, California in 1953. He began teaching in 1959 in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He has taught elementary, junior high, high school, adult school and college level classes. He, his wife Helen, and eight surviving children live in Pasadena, California. A middle daughter died in 2002 from the effects of Down syndrome. He is now retired and devotes his time to his 20 grandchildren and his 4 great-grandchildren.