Rudolfo A. Anaya

MEMOIRBefore You ReadIf you are using TheLanguage of Literature. . Use the information on page455 of that book to preparefor reading. Look at the title of thismemoir and at the artpage 456 What do youpredict this selection willbe about? .anRudolfo A. AnayaReading TipsThe author Rudolfo A. Anaya grew up in rural New Mexico. Inthis memoir; he recalls his grandfather and other old people from hischildhood. A simple farmer, Anaya's grandfather shared his wisdom andvalues with his grandson. Anaya wonders whether such values can bekept alive in the world of today.PREVIEW"Buenos dias Ie deDios, abuelo." God giveyou a good day, grandfather. This is how 'I was taught as a child to greet mygrandfather, or any grown person", It wasa greeting of respect, a cultural value tobe passed on from generation togeneration, this respect for the old ones.oi,-, '1· .·/In this memoir, the authorstrings together variousmemories of his past At first,you may not understand howthese memories are allrelated. Be patient and keepreading Eventually, the /author's purpose is madeclear. As you read, watch forstatements that help toexplain the author's purposefor writing.'and as we lived daily with them; wekatned a wise path of life to follow.They had something important to share with the young, and en they spoke, the young listened. These old abuelos andabuelitas 1 had worked the earth all their lives, and so they. knew the value of nurturing, they knew the sensitivity of theearth. ' .' They knew the rhythms and cycles of time, fromthe preparation of the earth in the spring to the digging of theacequias 2 that brought the water to the dance of har est in theKEEP TRACKAs you read, you can use thesemarks to keep track of yourunderstanding.V . I understand.? . I don't understand this.! . Interesting or surprisingidea1. abuelos (a-bwe1os) . abuelitas (a-bwe-le'w) Spanish: grandfathers .grannies.2. acequias (a-se1 .yas) Spanish: irrigation ditches.L --- .------- -A Celebration of .Grandfathers12·1

);'?";;;H;",;! t j r ;1. . . . .,-.,. . :., ;.,. ' .'. .' ' . : i e.:. . -.:-.-c: -. .:" ;:. . . -. . ."'. ' .". .;.-.-- . '"" i-:, - 'v; . . . ." . . . . . .c . . . . '".:. , . . ."T.r. . ' d tirioes n. .,'fall. hey sha ed gooa dhard tunes. They helped eachother through the epidemics and the personal tragedies, and .'they sh red what little thc.y had when the hot winds burnedthe .lahdand no :rain '" a.m .They learne .that to sur:vived e·had to sharethe prbtes.s dflife. " .' . . . . . .," , m :c, . .:. . ,.a WORD PO RMy grandfather was aMark words that you'd like to .'. .add toyour PersonalWoJd listAfteneading, you canrecordthewords and their meaningsbeginning on page 316.plain an a farmer from .the valley 'called Puerto de LUI1a on the Pecos River. He was P!obably adescendant of those people .who spilled overthemollntainfrom Tabs, following the Pecos River in'searchof farmland.There in that river valley he settled and raised a large fam"ily.Bearded and walrus-mustached., he stood five feet tall , but.J.";;:.'( : '1 h.·'J,".t: l'"(f.''1',: .to me as a child hewas a giant. 1 remember him most for hissilence. In the summers my pkrents sent me to live wiihhimon his farm, for I was to learn the ways of a farmer. Myuncles also lived in that valley, there where only the flow ofthe river and the whispering of the wind markedtime. For meit was a magical place.I remember once, while out hoeing the fields, I came uponan anthill, and before I knew it I was badly bitten. After hehad covered my welts with the cool mud from the irtigMion ditch, my grandfather calmly said: "Know where you stand.". That is the way he spoke, in short phrases, to the point\One very dry summer, the river dried to a 'trickle; there wasno water for the fields. The young plants withered and ·died", 'In my sadness and with the impulse of youth 1 said, "'1 wIsh itwould rain!" My grandfather touched me, looked up into thesky and whispered, "Pray for rain." Inhis langu;lge there wasa diff rence. He felt connected to the cycles that brought therain or kept it from us , His prayer was a meaningful action,because he was a participant with the forces that fiIJed ourworld; he was not a bystander.91 A young man died at the village one summer. A very tragicd ath. He was dragged by his horse. When he was found, Icried, for the boy was my friend. I did not understand whydeath had come to one so young. My grandfather took me"aside and said: "Think of the death of the trees and the fieldsin the fall. The leaves fall , and everything rests, as if dead. Butthey bloom again in the spring. Death is only this smalltransformation in life."These are the things 1 remember, these fleeting images,few words. I remem ber him driving his horse-drawn wagon(!i) into Santa Rosa in the fall when he brought his harvest -. . , . . :. :. . - . ., . . .:.: .:. .Read aloud the boxed passage.What does this passage revealabout the grandfather's beliefs?(Infer)( /'\1/---.j. :. :. .(: .: '\,122The InterActive Reader' ; '. ".

produce to sell in the town. What a tower of strength seemedto come in that small man huddled on the seat of the giant. wagon. One;ciick of his t6ngueand the horses obeyed,stopped or turned as he wished. He never raised-his whip.How unlike today, when so much teaching is done with loudwords and threateninghands.I would run to greet the wagon; and the wagon would stop.'"Buenos dias l de Dios, abuelo," I would say. "Buenosdias te de .bios; mi hijo,,,3 he would answer and smile, ando thenI cO\ll,djump up on the wagohartd sit t his side. Then I,too, became a king as I rode next to the old man who smelledof earth a;;ci sweat and the other deep aromas from theorchards, and fields of Puerto de Luna . .Pause0Reflect .We were all SOns and daughters to him.But today the sons and daughters arebreaking with the past; putting aside losabuelitos;The old values are threatened,and threatened most where it comes tothese relationships with the old people. If(9we donY take the time to watch and feelthe years of their final transformation, a part of our humanitywill be lessened.I grew up speaking Spanish,. and 'oh! how difficult it was tolearn English. Sometimes I would give up and cry.out that Icouldn't learn. Then he would say, "Ten paciencia." Havepatience. Paciencia, a word with the strength of centuries, aword that said that someday we would overcome . "Youhave to learn the language ohhe Americanos," he said. "Me, Iwill live my last days in my valley. You will live in a new time. " A new time did come; a new time is here. How will we.form it so it is fruitful? We need to know where we stand. Weneed' to speak softly and respect others, and to share w hat wehave. We need to pray not for material gain, but for rain for.tpe fields, for the sun to nurture growth, for nights in whichwe can sleep in peace, and for a harvest in which everyonecan share. Simple lessons from a simple man.\These lessons he3. mi hijo (me e'hO) Spanish: my boy.LPause0Reflect1, Review the details that youcircled as you read.does 'Anaya admire about hisgrandfather? (Author'sVihatPerspective)2. In the list below, put a checknext to words thatdescribeAnaya's grandfather. (Clarify)simplecalmstrongloudangrywise3. Would you have liked to haveknown Anaya's grandfather?Why or why not? (Connect). . . -. -.A Celebr.a tion of Grandfathers123

""aslearned from his past, whiCh was deep and strong as the1. Reread the boxed pass:ag1f :Q.tt\/currents of the river .of life.,"i '',page 123. Which of the "simp;1il:;;':He was a man; he died . N ot in his valley but nevertheless. lessons from a simplemao it ?ii.t. cared for by his 'sons and daughters and flocks of 'you think is most importa n :· /:grandc:hildren. At the end, I would enter his room, which xplain.(Evaluate)"·\,.;A:: carried the smell of medications and Vicks. Gone'were the------'---- '".c,: , ;.\ aroma of the fields, the st ength of his, y ung manh06d. ,Gone---,- ----.-- ': , :" ·also was his patience in theface ofcrippling old age. Small ' ', . things' bothered him; he shouted or turned sour.when his- - - - - - - - -,"""".:" .'expec ations were not met. It was beca 'sehe could not carefor himseif, becau e he was returning to that stateof. 2: What does Anaya remember'childhood, and all those wishes and desires were nowabout hisgrandfather's lastwrapped in a crumbling, old bo y. '.years? (Summarize). "Ten paciencia," } once said to him, and he smiled."}didn't know} would grow this old," he said .} would sit and look at him and remember what was said ofhim when he was a young man. He co:qldmount a wild horseand break it, and he could ride as far as any man. He coulddance all night at a dance, then work the acequiq'ihe .3. Circle the best ending to thefollowing day. He helped the neighbors; theyhelpecl him. Hefollowing sentence:married, raised children. Small legends, the' kind that make upAnaya describes the en'd of hisevery man's life.grandfather's lifeHe was ninety-four when he died. Family, neighbors, and friends gathered; they all agreed he had led a rich life. }to show that old people getremembered the last years, the years he spent in bed. And as Icranky.remember now, 1 am reminded that it is too easy toto provide a complete andromanticize 4 old age. Sometimes we forget the pain of thehonest portrait of histransformation into old age, we forget the natural breakinggrandfather.down of the body. My grandfather ,pointed to the leavesto show that he lost respectfalling from the .tree. So time brings with its transformationfor his grandfather.the often painful wearing-down process. Vision blurs, health(Author's Purpose)wanes; even the act of walking carrie's with it the p'(1infulreminder of the autumn of life, But this process is something{ij) to be faced, not something to be hidden away by false images.Yes, the old can be young at heart, but in their own way, withtheir own dignity. They do not have to copy the always-youngimage of the Hollywood star, .Pause0Reflect.'. ;,1":: . ,: . .: "/r".\: ;T.!.).:,:;:',':;\:::1l,' jJ'B"124The InterActive Reader4 . romanticize: view in an unrealistic or sentimental way.:' .