1. PURSUIT FOR A
BETTER LIFE
By: Cynthia Molina

2. CONTENT AND INFORMATION
 Sadly, a lot of the details of our family history is
unknown because our family never really stopped
to ask about specific details and partly because my
grandma had Alzheimer.
 This presentation is about our journey to the United
States and how we got here.
 Some of the early years are approximated.

3. ORIGINS OF MY MOTHER’S SIDE
 My grandpa and his
parents were from
Degollado, Jalisco.
 Degollado in Spanish
means "behead", or
"decapitate". It is
known for hangings
that occurred many
years ago.

4.  My grandma is from
Southern California
and her parents were
from Leon,
Guanajuato.
 Guanajuato is known
for it’s well preserved
mummies. (To the left
is my cousin and I at
the museum)

5. ORIGIN OF MY FATHER’S SIDE
 My grandpa is from
Juarez, Chihuahua. His
father’s side is from
Santa Barbara,
Chihuahua.
 His mother’s side is
from Coahuila.

6.  My Grandma and her
father’s side are also
from Chihuahua. They
come from Avalos,
Chihuahua.
 Her mother’s side is
from Zacatecas.

7. CHIHUAHUA
 Both my parents and
grandparents lived most
of their lives here and
are strongly tied to this
place. We are proud to
be from Juarez,
Chihuahua despite
current problems .
 Sadly, Juarez has
become the most
dangerous city in Mexico
due to the drug cartels.

8.  The state of Chihuahua
is home to Copper
Canyon where the
Tarahumar Indians
live. Copper Canyon is
larger than the Grand
Canyon.

9.  The “Casas Grandes”
is also in Chihuahua
and is an old
archeological site

10.  Chihuahua is also home to the “Giant Crystal
Caves”

11. THE FIRST JOURNEY
 The first of my family to come to the United States
were from my mother’s side of the family.
 First came my Great Grandfather Ramon Gomez
Jr.
 He ran away from home at age 15 because he got
in an argument with his stepmother and broke her
wrist and was fearful that his father would beat him
when he came from work.

12.  He arrived in Los Angeles, California from Leon,
Guanajuato with a friend around 1906. Method of
transportation is unknown.
 He got a job in a train station in Los Angeles.

13. HIS FUTURE WIFE JOINS HIM…
 Second to come was my Great Grandmother Maria
Torres.

14.  She lived with her
parents and siblings until
her father left in 1910 to
fight in the Mexican
Revolution as a rebel and
they moved in with her
father’s parents.
 After not hearing from her
father they thought he
died in the war. Her
mother met a soldier and
got pregnant and was
planning to live with him.

15.  Her father returned not knowing that his wife was
pregnant. Her mother asked her mother-in-law what
to do and she suggested to drink some herbs to
abort.
 Her mother died from the abortion and her father
found out that she was pregnant with another man’s
child.
 He abandons his children with an aunt thinking they
might not be his too.
 Her siblings leave because the aunt mistreated
them and she was left alone. A neighbor who she
called her “godmother” would feed her and comfort
her.

16.  One day her godmother leaves to United States
and she decides to look for her around the age of
12.
 She has no money for the train but she meets a
woman who sneaks her under the train seat and
covers her with her skirt.
 She arrives at the train station were my Great
Grandpa works and spends to days at the station
asking for her godmother.

17. THEY FINALLY MEET…
 My Great Grandfather sees her and offers her a
place to live and eat if she would clean and cook for
him and his friend.
 They fall in love and marry around 1915.
 They have 7 children including my Grandma Jane
Gomez who was supposed to be named Juana .
 When their children were born they were told to
register their name in English.
 Their last known location was in Anaheim.

18. HARD TIMES…
 My Great Grandfather continued to work in the
station and sold oranges until the Great Depression
struck and he lost his job.
 Segregation also affected my Grandma Jane and
was kicked off her baseball team and separated in
a different classroom with African Americans.
 They also got a notice that they were going to be
deported and that the government was going to
“help” them by buying their land and property. They
did not get much money and they returned to Leon,
Guanajuato.

19. YEARS LATER…
 My Grandma Jane meets my Grandpa Jose
Socorro Cortez and marry 1938. They had 13
children and adopted their niece and nephew.

20.  My Grandma decides to contact her brother who
returned to California to find work in the U.S.
 He tells her to move into a house he had in Juarez,
Chihuahua and to fix her children's’ passports.
 They find work in El Paso, Texas and decided to
stay in Juarez.

21. MY PARENTS AND THEIR JOURNEY
 Both my parents were
born and raised in
Juarez, Chihuahua.
 They met in 1980
because they lived
across the street from
each other and started
dating in 1982.

22.  In 1986, my dad come to California looking for work
so he can fix his parents house in Juarez.
 He comes back in 1988 to see my mom and she
gets pregnant with my brother Edgar. They marry
September 9, 1988.
 A few days later my dad’s uncle contacts him from
California and tells him there is an opportunity to fix
his passport.

23.  My dad decides to go because he needed a job to
pay for the hospital bills when my brother was born.
 He found a secure job, in which he has been
working in for the past 23 years, and a house in
Covina and convinces my mom to come.
 A year later I was born and ten years after that my
brother Ivan was born.

24. ABOUT MY CURRENT FAMILY…
 My older brother was born in El Paso,
Texas
 I was born in Montebello, California
 My younger brother was born in
Upland, California
 We moved to Ontario in 1998.
 In 2008 we added another member to
our family and his name is Oso which
means “bear” in Spanish. He’s our
dog!

25.  We listen to Norteña music because we are from
“El Norte” which is referred to northern Mexican
cities along the border.
 Because my parents lived near the border they
where also influenced by American music
 My mom listened to the Bee Gee’s and Cindy
Lauper and my dad listened to Van Halen and
Stevie Ray Vaughan.

26. RELIGION, TRADITIONS, AND VALUES
 Our family, Mother side and
Father side, are Catholic.
 We mostly eat Mexican food.
Our salsas, guacamoles, and
tortillas are made by hand.
 Even our drinks Jamaica and
Horchata along with fruit
juices.
 Our family is united and we
spend holidays together and
make tamales.

27. VIDEOS
 This is a video of the Chihuahua giant crystals (you
might need to copy and paste link, sorry.)
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOjWRR5QL_I

28. WORKS CITED
 http://geo-mexico.com/?p=825
 Google images
 Interview with my Mom 10/15/11