"The first house [we lived in in Morenci], it was a two-story house, [a] great big one and my dad was really proud of his house because he was always working on it, you know, fixing here and fixing there. He had fruit trees and he planted flowers for my mother. He built like an oven where she boiled the clothes, she boiled the sheets. [It was] outside. He used to work with cement, brick, and rocks, like a mason. He built that [clothesline] for her. Her other neighbors, we had these neighbors that lived next door to us, their name was Medriano, she and my mom were really good friends and she'd come and do her wash there too. He built her a clothesline, {it was] round and she shared the clothesline. I remember that he had a cherry tree and the cherries would disappear and I was the one that ate them. "Oh, mis cherries, ya se perdieron!" (Oh, my cherries are gone!) He knew I was the one who took them. (laughs)

There were four rooms and downstairs there was three. He rented the downstairs. Then he brought my tía Petra to live there in the downstairs because my tío was sent to the asylum. He had a nervous breakdown because he used to go to the hills and bring barrel cactus and make candy. He wouldn't sleep, he'd be out early in the morning to sell his goods.

Yeah, [there was running water in the house with a sink and a faucet.][There was electricity.] No, [no gas]. Woodstove. My dad [cut the wood]. [I didn't have any chores as a child], not that I remember. She [mother] never made us. She'd tell us to do it but then she'd do it herself.

My grandma was the one that entertained us. My mama was always busy with the babies. My grandma was the one that would tell us stories about spooks and ghosts and la llorona. We'd go visit them, all the time, we'd go visit my grandma and my grandpa and we'd go visit my tía Carlota and my mother used to like to go visit las comadres on Sundays. That's where we'd all go, all together. Carmela didn't like it but she took the whole group to visit the comadres. They [Mr. Gomez's parents] were compadres. I don't remember [for whom] but I know they called each other compadres. For a long time, after the family moved to California, his sisters used to come and visit my mother and my dad. They liked them. They'd always come and visit. We used to go visit, I remember, visit this comadre, Lusita Garcia, and I really liked her tea. She made tea for us and she put cinnamon. It was cool, real cool. She'd feed all the whole bunch of family because my mother would take all of us, her whole brood. Beans and potatoes, but what I remember the most was the tea.

Traditions? I remember that we used to have the whole family would get together and enjoy dinner my mother made or my Pepa. Mole. Tamales and that was for Christmas. Then when our kids got baptized, we had a dinner too, we made mole and rice, chicken mole. Carmela and Daddy Memo [was the first wedding in the family] in August of 1938.

We were taught to go to catechism. We were taught our prayers in Spanish and we went to Mass every Sunday. Every holiday and days of obligation. Yes, [I made my first Holy Communion]. I was baptized and confirmed in El Paso. I made my first Holy Communion in Morenci. I was seven years old.

I remember my dad belonged to La Alianza, both my mom and dad. That was like an insurance, life insurance. They used to go to meetings and they had dances. I guess to raise funds for the organization. It was that building next door to the Holy Cross Church, that big building right across. Across from Holy Cross. It must have been torn down. It was a big hall. The parking lot was a little further down. This building was right as you went out the church."