Conono is a man who served my family for more than 20 years. He is a "modern Maya" who spent his younger years of life growing Henequen - the "green gold" of Yucatan between the late 1800s and mid 1900s. He and his father were slave-like workers who served plantation masters.
At the age of 19 he married his wife, who was 13 years old at the time. He fathered nine children, and to this day has 18 grandchildren and one living great-grandchild.
In his late 40s, he decided to try his luck in Merida, the main city in the state of Yucatan. He was one of the labor workers who helped build the home I grew up in. When the home was finished, my dad asked him if he wanted to stay and work for my family full time. He said yes.
Just like Graciella did, he would leave his "pueblo" (hometown) every Monday morning to come to Merida and then return to it early Saturday morning.
One of my favorite memories of Conono was that he loved to play UNO. The four of us (Graciella, Conono, my sister Alison and I) would get together in his room every night and play cards. We were never able to catch him cheating, but we were all sure he would often steal the WILD card and use it on another hand.
This morning we drove to his pueblo to go visit him. This is the picture of the shoes he wears. The bottoms are made with car tires. The ones he has on are his "good" shoes.
On our way back to Merida, we had a mexican-style popsicle together.
3 comments:
OMG!!!
I can almost hear Don Conono's voice calling us: Bubuuu, Lorren, Shirimm, vengan a jugar UNO! Dejen a los conejos, van a pastar!
I loved the days we'd spend playing at your house and am very fond of Don Conono, he was also very much part of our growing up together, Loli. thanks for the post!
Love, Shirin
is this the man who taught us a few mayan words when we stayed w/your mom in 06? Glad he is still doing well.
Yes. He has "retired" this year. Who is this?
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