Meeting of descendants

Meeting of descendants of Magdalena Liesch and Peter Polin:
Marisa Polin and Sarah Loos in The Hague, 2009

The history of the Swiss emigration

Pieder Grischott from Switzerland has kindly recommended the book of Peter Michael-Caflish, to know more about the Polins and the Swiss emmigration to the USA and Australia in the 19th and begin of the 20th century.
As Mr Grischott states: "Peter Michael is nearly the only man on earth (!), that knows the genealogy from every family in this valley since around year 1600 to the present."

Peter Michael-Caflisch: Hier hört man keine Glocken
Geschichte der Schamser Auswanderung nach Amerika und Australien

Auswanderer zwischen Fernweh und Heimweh
Sei es als Söldner unter fremden Fahnen in halb Europa, als Zuckerbäcker in Italien, Deutschland oder in Russland, als Kaffeesieder im Süden, die Schamser waren traditionell ein Menschenschlag von Auswanderern. Der Bündner Autor Peter Michael-Caflisch hat in jahrelanger Arbeit Materialien zur Auswanderung aus dem Schams nach Übersee zusammengetragen. Er ist dabei auf spannende Geschichten gestossen, hat aus der halben Welt tolle Bilder erhalten und manchen vermeintlich verloren gegangenen Kontakt wiederhergestellt. Entstanden ist dabei eine Sammlung von gut erzählten Geschichten rund um das Thema Auswanderung, ergänzt mit einer umfassenden Dokumentation zur Schamser Auswanderung. Das Buch ist in diesem Sinn exemplarisch für ein Phänomen, das in den Bündner Bergtälern wie auch in vielen anderen Kantonen der Schweiz im 19. und beginnenden 20. Jahrhundert ein beherrschendes Thema war.
Für «Hier hört man keine Glocken» erhielt Peter Michael-Caflisch den Bündner Literaturpreis 2009.

Hier hört man keine Glocken
Geschichte der Schamser Auswanderung nach Amerika und Australien
Peter Michael-Caflisch
2008, 576 Seiten, 213 s/w-Abb., Format 16 x 24 cm, Pappband
ISBN 978-3-03919-088-1, Fr. 48.00, Euro 28.80

Roberto Polin Tapia

My grandfather Roberto Polin Tapia lived as a child in the Chapultepec Castle when his uncle Alvaro Obregón was president of Mexico. The story I have heard is that he was in charge of giving the Chinese cook the daily ammount of money for the food. What he did was to exchange the gold coins he received into less valuable coins and that is how he made some money. I don't know how truth is this story and/of how often it happened.
What I am sure of is that the eagle I have now in my home was the national symbol on top of the flag at the Castle. Why he got it or how I don't know.
It ended in the hands of my father Manuel Polin Loustaunau and I saw it my whole life at home. In November 1998 I asked him for the eagle after his death. He said No! But you will be dead- I said. No!- was again his answer.
Six months later he was dead. As we arrived home after his wake the first thing my mother did was to give me the eagle. But he didn't want it that I would have it - I responded. You take it because I want to- she finalized.
So it is now at my home and as I look at it I think of the stories I mentioned, my family , my childhood and my country.
Marisa Polin, The Hague

Response to Tara Mitchell and Karen Saunders on SLO and Zillis

Dear Tara,
I am very happy you found me and we can get in touch. It is really moving the memories you had from our visit to SLO. I can't remember the presents I gave you, but I remember you and your brother. I was then 16 ( it was 1981) and you were probably 13. I hope you can correct me If the relations and my memory are wrong. My father, mother and I stayed at your home. You had a beautiful home, with ditto guest's room, with very white bed covers and big white pillows. I remember everything white and perfect. (Every body has their own selection of memories of course!) I just told my mother about you and she also remembered very well the visit and your parents visit to Mexico, and that you had two Mercedes Benz (I suppose even then she liked cars, something I recently discovered from her). Your father was a tall and big man. Your mother took me to the City Poly of SLO, where she was very much involved and got all kind of information for me. (Then I was studying High School in Arizona). She was very kind to us, as all of you were. I had the idea that you were distant to our visit, and it is very nice to hear your side of the story, and I am very glad to know that it was also of some consequence for you, as it was for me.

Your parents visit to Mexico was soon after and they stayed shortly but it was also an enjoyable stay. My mother reminded me yesterday, that my father took them to a Paco de Lucia concert, I have to admit I was a bit jealous as I was not invited.
I think that you may be mixing memories with another visit from Mexican relatives. My parents always lived in Mexico City. Other family members went to Rosarito and Ensenada but as far as I know only years after. Also the Papas and Beer comes later in the story. The Ampudias and Reynaldo Polin are now there. Maybe my parents said something about Baja California Norte.
At the moment of our visit to SLO even though I was very much interested on the family history it was in a way a little bit embarrassing because we have not met before, but my father insisted to meet the Polin side on the USA. For me then, meeting your grand mother Rose was of big influence in my life. She was so enthusiast about everything, very warm. As I remember her showing me the bibles, they were at least two, and they were very old (1718). They meant not only the confirmation of my father stories' but the physical proof of my past. My European past. She also told me about her trip to Zillis, the name of the canton, she described me the church, the painted ceilings, the bench -that I am photographed next to it-. (Which still keeps me with some kind of doubts about the surname Polin of Pullinn). She also had, if I remember well a little yellowed genealogical book, that later on my aunt Julia in Acapulco also showed me a copy.
Roses home is also in my memory and the living room and a dinner with more members of the family, among them Burt an one of her daughter who was very near to her. The house was at a high place.
Five years later when I went to Europe, because I wanted to travel, to see the castles of the Rhine river, the paintings I have seen only on photographs and because I had to go to Zillis, the conversations with aunt Rose where accompanying me. I travelled for very little money and a back pack. From Chur I took a lift and I was left at Zillis. I went to the post office-hotel, and I tried to made myself understood but I didn't get that far. It was getting late and I couldn't go to the church under the town, but I still see myself staring at the beautiful "calendar" landsapes and listening to the cows' bells and thinking that my ancestors lived here. I started walking to the the next town Andeer as it was getting late. That evening I was already in Italy at a friends' house in a very different world.
It was only in 1997 that I was able to come back without discovering anything new but finally visiting the beautiful St Martin Church, with the oldest painted ceiling.

About "Parade Along the Creek", I think I saw it (a magazine size, white cover, grey letters and a photograph of a parade?) but it makes no logic because you said she wrote it later. I don't have it and I would love to have it in case you still have a copy.
Now a little bit about me:
After the first trip to Europe in 1986 I continued at the Academy in Mexico City and two years later I left again for two years to London where I specialized in ceramics. There I met Hans Hoogervorst a Dutch historian with political ambitions. I had been living in The Hague since 1990. I went again to the academy there and started having exhibitions in The Netherlands. Hans and I got married in 1992 and Gabriel Andreas was born in 1996. Hans became Secretary of Finances and on a second cabinet Secretary of Health. Since 1998 we live in our actual house and for the last two years I had been very happy to have my studio-gallery next to our home. Hans had left politics and he is now the Chairman of the dutch Securities Exchange Commission (AFM). Our son Gabriel speaks Dutch, English and Spanish, so actually he could communicate with all his family.
I would like to see a photo of you and your family, maybe one from the time we met.
Regards,
Marisa Polin

Dear Karen,
It is very interesting all the letters you have from your grand father, hopefully you could share some of them with us. I am looking forward seeing these information, specially from and about Joe Polin from Mexico, because to tell you the truth, I know very little about him except a couple of anecdotes.
The trip description to Zillis is also quite a story and I think there is a lot to research there. I would like also to see some of the photos you have of the town.
Regards,
Marisa Polin

Family Tree Wiki

I have taken a lot of the information that has been posted on Los Polin and some additional materials that my family has, and I have started a family tree with pages about each family member and digital copies of old photos. The page is a wiki, which means that many people can add stories and change the information on the pages. If you would also like to be a writer for the wiki, please email me or Marisa and we'll add you to the list.

Family Tree: www.lospolin.pbwiki.com/Family+Tree

Main Page: www.lospolin.pbwiki.com

I hope you enjoy the things I've posted and I look forward to seeing new stories a photos as they are added to the site!

-- Sarah Loos

(Indiana, USA)
saloos@aol.com

News from Zillis

I just received this today and together with the letters of Sarah, Mark, Tara and Karen from the last months this makes it very big news. It means we may have found the link to the family in Switzerland and the book probably will give us even more information.

Dear Marisa,
It is exactly a week ago that a very exciting book concerning the emigration has come out: Peter Michael, "Hier hört man keine Glocken", Verlag Hier+Jetzt"
In that book you can see the following pictures:


I suppose you do know very well both pictures from your ancestors!
In your page you mention some of my ancestors with name Polin and Grischott. I am not sure at this moment if those are yours ancestors too, but the author from the book above could explain this very exactly.
The maiden name from Martin and Peter Polin's wife (born 1831) was Magdalena Liesch. Peter Polin's mother was Ursula Camenisch and Martin's mother was Elsbeth Camenisch. So they were half-brothers.
If you are interested in more informations concerning Zillis or the Polin-Genealogy then please send us a sign.
Yours,
Peider Grischott
Switzerland

(On the first photo:
Magdalena and Martin Polin with her two older children, and their 5 younger children and ?
The second photo: my great grandfather Joe Polin and I indeed know the photo. Note: Marisa Polin)

More about Rose McKeen and Zillis

Hello Marisa,

My name is Karen McKeen Saunders, I am Rose McKeen's other daughter. (Rose had four children: Rosemarie, Bill, Jack and Karen. Bill predeceased my mother.)

My brother Jack told me about your blog last night, it is a fascinating piece of work....a family history quilt of information, if you will.

I did write an article about Elsbeth Polin and her work as a photographer in San Luis Obispo. It was published in Westways Magazine in October, 1979. I borrowed pictures from my mother Rose Polin McKeen and her cousin, Katherine Coates (who also helped with information and anecdotes) about their aunt. No article was ever published in the Union Oil magazine, Seventy Six, about Elsie Polin. I was editor of that magazine for several years, so that is where the confusion might have occurred.

Besides Cullen Coates letter about the Civil War, my great grand father Martin Polin wrote down his memories of his war experience: "Memories of the Civil War: April 4, 1892 - February 24, 1863." It starts out that it was written to his son O.M. "Oscar" Polin. The original of that story is owned by my brother Bill McKeen's family. My siblings and I have copies of the original.

I also have one of the large Romanish Bibles (1718) which my mother owned.
I also have correspondence to my grandfather, Oscar Martin Polin, from his various relatives. Oscar, from what I can tell (I never met him, he died soon after I was born) kept everything...including every tooth he pulled as a dentist in San Luis Obispo County. Included are letters from Joe (his letters from Mexico are typed, so they are faint but readable), Annie (in Canada), and Elsie. There are also all the bills, businesses he dealt with buying dairy cattle and more. I am slowly sifting this correspondence.

Information about Switzerland

Sebastian Polin and his brother (I do not remember the name) were prominent in politics in the area. They also had a home in Chur, the political center of that area. They lived with their sister Rosa, I believe they were all unmarried.

My family (husband John, and sons Scott and Chris) and I visited Zillis in 1999. I found an English speaking teacher who lives in Zillis to help us find out about our family. She was able to find a building still standing that was the building the family visited as they moved the cattle from the lower pastures to the higher pastures during the year. Using old photographs, as we had in a previous visit, we located a home which I believe was the Polin family home on the far side of the town. The teacher told us that a few years previously some children were playing and brought home some old Roman coins. Their parents wanted to know where they found the coins, the children showed them a cave and excavations found a cave with three Roman skeletons very near to where the Polin house still stands. We were able to visit this site. There is another home in Zillis with the name Polin painted on the side, none of our old photos resemble this home.

The teacher pointed out that if we drove to the other side of the valley and drove into the hills we could get a photo of all of Zillis, including where the family had moved their cattle. We did get this photo and used it in our Christmas cards that year. I still have some copies of the photo, but it is film, not digital. If you wish, I could locate one and mail it to you.

When my mother wrote her book Parade Along the Creek, she wished to share it with her Mexican cousins. My sister (Rosemarie), brother (Bill) and his wife (Fay )and my husband and I were asked to deliver a copy of the book to the cousins in Ensenada. We met with Rogerio, the father of the owners of Papas and Beer, and his wife. They gave us a wonderful tour of the city and were a wonderful host and hostess.

Karen Saunders
Glendale, California

Rose McKeen

Thinking of Rose McKeen from her granddaughter Tara L. Mitchell (McKeen)

Hi Marisa,

My name is Tara L Mitchell, (My maiden name is McKeen). My father is Jack McKeen, son of Rose L. Polin McKeen Riley. I ran across you blog about "Los Polin" on a little whim; I was missing my grandmother for it would have been her 96th birthday today... It's kinda silly but I googled her name in hopes I would find out something new about her and wow I found you!

I think I remember being a pre-teen and your family visiting from Mexico, we all ate dinner at my Grandma Rose's house in SLO Town Ca. Do you happen to remember this? It was the '80's, You would have been a teen yourself; if I remember correctly. What a small world. I also remember (I think it was you giving me a black scarf -I really loved it!) and hearing all about Papas and Beer... This was somewhere I always wanted to go but my road was to have a family instead... My big plan was to visit Rosita or Ensanada when I reached 18, and see for myself all the beautiful sights my parents Jack and Joyce, and Aunts, Uncles and Grandma had been raving about for years.

My father Jack is currently living in Rose's old home. Grandma passed away a couple years ago, and I have been thinking of her a lot these days because, in her last years; my Mitchell family (my husband Greg, son Jeff & daughter Ashley-cared for her in her home...) anyways the last time I saw her was on Halloween, so close to her birthday.

Grandma always wanted a family tree and had many stories to tell including stories of your family too--she would be very proud of you and would have loved to have had a hands on role of adding to the blog I am sure. She actually wrote a book called "Parade Along the Creek"; it was about her history growing up in San Luis Obispo. Have you ever heard of it? She wrote it about 8 years or so before she passed and something remarkable about that was that she was unfortunately going blind during this time, and yet still had the courage and determination to (and much help form people like my Aunt Rosemarie) finish and publish! It is quite a story for a lot of locals around here. We really enjoy it!

In your blog; it was cool to read about Uncle Martin and read what Aunt Rosemarie had to offer. These days the family is so busy with their own lives (our own little families) we don't talk much anymore. It is very sad but since the passing of my Uncle Bill Grandma's first son and since she passed so has Her sister Elisabeth and Brother Burt and as you know Martin Polin; our new families seem to take precedence. My dad (Jack) has many photos and we like to reminisce and tell old stories it is so interesting to us to find out family history and it just keeps us close to those we have lost.

After viewing your site I quickly called my father and he would be very interested to share some old stories or pictures with you. Would it be possible for him to get a hold of you some how, besides the computer? (he is not so hip to it) I told him about the "Los Polin" website and decided I would just print it out for him.. He was very grateful and he started remembering how he visited Mexico w/my mom, and you were a great hostess while your parents were busy with other obligations.

Looking forward to your reply & thanks again for starting the blog.

Sincerely,
Tara L. Mitchell (McKeen)
of SLO Town Caifornia

My Grandmother's visit to Acapulco

My grandmother Suzanne and her husband Dick visited relatives in Mexico in May 1976. Here are a couple of photos with the family at the Pierre Marques Hotel.

Jose Polin, Juanita, Suzanne, Julia, Dick

Jose Polin, Suzanne, and Juanita

(I'm not sure who the couple and their daughter is. The photo appears to be marked Mr. & Mrs. Aznar and daughter.)

Jose Polin is the grandson of Peter and Magdalena Polin, and the son of Joseph polin, Julia is his sister and Juanita is his wife. So Julia and Jose are siblings of Magda, Robert, and Martin who are shown (much younger) in a picture in a previous post. My grandma Suzanne is their first cousin, once removed.

Sarah Loos

Hermanos Manuel y Eduardo

Foto de 1993 ?. Jessef (grandson of Manuel), Manuel Eduardo (son of Ml), Manuel Polin Loustaunau, Eduardo 'Minto' (brother of M), Dinorah (niece of M) y Monica Polin (daughter of M).

Mark Polin

Dear Marisa,
As you may know, my father, O. Martin Polin, son of Oscar Polin, passed away on August 17, 2007. I have a brother, Martin, and a sister, Elizabeth, and my mother's name is Susan. My sister Elizabeth found your website 'polink' shortly after my father passed away, and my mother, sister, and I enjoyed reading about you and your family and your vocation as a visual artist.
My family and I very much appreciate your family website, Los Polin, and we look forward to future postings and to our providing information that would contribute to the collection of knowledge about the family. We have some family photos of my father, his parents and brothers and sisters which we would like to share with you in due course. I look forward to corresponding with you.
Kind regards,
Mark Polin

Aunt Annie

On the back of this photo is a note: "To our dear aunt Annie, from Martin, Robert, and Magda." Martin, Robert (or Roberto) (twins), and Magda are three of Joseph Polin's children.

Aunt Annie, or Anna Marie Polin Miley was the daughter of Peter and Magdalena Polin. She was Joseph Polin's sister. Here is a photo of her:

This photo was used to create a large portrait which now hangs in the entryway of my parents' house in Indiana, USA.

Polin Women

This evening I visited home and was able to bring back a wealth of stories, photos and letters about my family.  

This is a photo of four generations of Polin women.  The woman sitting on the left is Magdalena Liesch Polin.  Her daughter Anna Marie Polin Miley is sitting on the right.  Anna Marie's daughter, Madeline Miley Beck, is in the middle.  And the little girl is Madeline's daughter, Magdalena's great-granddaughter, Suzanne Beck Loos -- my grandmother.  

Descendants of Peter and Magdalena

They had only two children:
Anna Marie Polin Miley (Nana or Tanny)
and Joseph or Joe.

The Mexican side are all descendants of Joseph.
I had just been contacted by one of the descendants of Anna Marie, Sarah Loos.
Here is her own text:

Hi Marisa,

I'm so glad you got in touch with me. I am a computer science and math major in my last year at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. I grew up in Kansas City, Kansas.
My father has done some research (along with my step mom) on our family history, so I've Cc'ed him on this email.
I am also a descendant of Peter and Magdalena Polin. They had a daughter, Anna Marie Polin Miley or Nana, as my family calls her. Nana had a daughter, Madeline Miley Beck. Madeline then had a daughter, Suzanne Beck Loos, who was my grandmother. She had two sons: Bruce Loos and Gary Loos (my father). So that makes me the great-great-great granddaughter of Peter and Magdalena Polin. Which means we're third cousins, once removed.
I've also included an email below that my dad sent me before I met Barbara Tuffli and Cullen Coates in California. It has a little more information about the people I mentioned before.
I am really looking forward to reading Los Polin and finding out more about you. I also have a blog, though it doesn't have a purpose, just for fun and keeping in contact: www.sarahloos.blogspot.com.
I'll try to sort through some of the family info with my dad and then hopefully we can send you some compiled information!

Best, Sarah Loos

The next text is from her father Gary Loos:

I enjoyed visiting with Barbara and Rick over dinner in 1983. Give them my regards and tell them that I have visited Alma several times since then, including a visit to the cemetery just south of town....very interesting.
Nana (Anna Marie Polin Miley) (portrait outside your room) was Grandma Suzanne's mother's mother. Barbara Coates Tuffli is also a descendant of Nana's mother, Magdalena Polin. You are a descendant of Magdalena and Peter Polin. Barbara is a descendant of Magdalena and Peter's brother, Martin Polin. Nana grew up in Alma, Wisconsin.
Nana married Lucius Miley and moved to Spokane, Washington where he managed the department store. Nana was the lead sewing person for the store. Nana and Lucius had two daughters. One was Madeline, who was Grandma Suzanne's mother, my grandmother whom I knew well. When Madeline was a teenager, 190_), Lucius impregnated someone in Spokane. He then moved to Australia in disgrace! (Times were different. This was an ostracizing offense.)
...
Love, Dad (Gary Loos)

Martin Polin in Tasmania

The wildlife reserve (526ha) Something Wild was donated by the American conservationist and businessman Martin Polin.
In December 2004, Martin Polin, donated about 1000 acres of land to Something Wild for the Conservation, Rehabilitation and Education on native Wildlife. For many years, Martin purchased land such as this, which he has locked up for wildlife. The land incorporated in this gift has been preserved by Martin for approximately 30 years and he has entrusted it to continue and expand upon this important work.
Unfortunately Martin Polin passed away last year.

Something Wild is near Mt. Field National Park, Tasmania, 45 minutes north west of Tasmania's capital city, Hobart.

The reserve is a Non Government Funded Private wildlife sanctuary and is the worlds largest Tasmanian Devil Sanctuary encompassing approx. 1200 acres. The main visitor site covers an area of 30 acres allowing plenty of space for these animals to feed and interact as they would in the wild.
More about it at Scoop Travel.

Lo que me dio y lo que se lleva con ella.

Aleli
Emma Loustaunau de Polin
(Emma Francis Loustaunau Remley)

Lo que me dio y lo que se lleva con ella:

Los ultimos años cuando le preguntaba a mi Aleli como estaba, su respuesta era -Aqui sigo-.
Hoy ya no esta aqui. Su cuerpo finalmente la dejo despues de una larga vida en salud.
Su delicadeza tuvo mucho sello en su vida y tambien en su muerte.
Correcta como siempre solo murio despues de ya haber terminado la conmoverdora y prolongada celebracion del cumpleaños de su hijo.
La familia no habia dejado la ciudad cuando fueron llamados a su probable despedida.
Ellos no lo creian, pero aun asi se reunieron alrededor de ella como, yo me lo imagino, en una escena de cine.
Mi Aleli murio cuando no pudo mostrar su elegancia, cuando no pudo expresarse, cuando la comida perdio su sabor, cuando no pudo darle una sonrisa a los que queria, cuando estar viva comenzo a parecer a estar muerta.

Ella:
-me dio la consciencia del fisico, de la propiedad y del valor propio
-me entusiasmo a saber mas, a estudiar y a ser curiosa
-me cultivo el amor a la palabra, con ella hice la mayoria de los crucigramas de mi vida y los posteriores siempre me recordaron a ella
-me enseño a disfrutar la comida, me compartio sus libros de cocina y me enseño mas que las bases, con ella hize mis primeros pasteles y los ultimos
-me hizo algunos de los vestidos mas importantes de mi vida
-me enseño a buscar la perfeccion y a apreciar la delicadeza
-me enseño a ser discretamente orgullosa
-me transmitio historias personales, de familia y de los objetos que la rodeaban y el gran significado de estas
-me inculco la importancia de las fotos
-me dio el ejemplo en el arte
-con ella comparti una de nuestras mayores tristezas
-me enseño su dolor de madre
-escondia su fragilidad pero no de mi
-me dejo enseñarle lo que yo sabia
-me compartio sus errores para que yo no los volviera a cometer
-me acompaño cuando estuve sola
Ella fue mi amiga

Ella:
-se lleva a su generacion
-se lleva las historias que no oi o las que no escuche con atencion.
-se lleva mi pasado
-se lleva mi amor
-me deja su recuerdo

Aleli estara con nosotros.

Marisa Polin
La Haya, 18 de julio del 2008

*Emma was the widow of Roberto Polin Tapia.

Otros Polin en el mundo

Aqui pueden dejar sus comentarios o preguntas o quien crea ser de la familia Polin.
Saludo,
Marisa Polin

Zillis 1997

St. Martin Church.

Zillis from down under.

Church bench with the name: Anna Pullinn.

Marisa Polin and Gabriel Hoogervorst.

The beautiful ceiling in St. Martin.

One average building in Zillis.

The only person outside on that morning.

A typical Zillis landscape.

Zillis, the tunnel, Polin or Pullinn

Dear Marisa,

I do not know much about Anna Polin, other than the family called her “Tanny” as a nickname. I know that she moved to Canada after her marriage. I believe that Cullen has more information than I do.

I told you all that I know about Aunt Elsie’s trip to Switzerland. However, I have visited Zillis twice. The first time was with Mother (Rose), my sister, Karen, and her husband. We arrived on a day that the town was having a funeral and didn’t want visitors which was a disappointment. We recognized the Polin Inn from the picture in my grandmother’s bedroom. However, we met a couple from California at a village 2 miles down the road where we spent the night.

About ten years later, one of my sons, Michael, and I spent 3 weeks in Europe and visited Zillis. The woman, Annie, whom I met on the first trip, arranged for us to meet the oldest (at that time) villager in Zillis. She never invited us inside her house, but communicated through Annie in her garden, about the family. She showed us a second Polin house, and said the roses in that garden were planted by a grandmother ? relative in about 1820 and that her mother had been a best friend of that particular Polin. When we asked about the spelling of a similar name on a pew in the church, she told us that was how we were supposed to spell our name---Pullinn. Whether that is true or not, I do not know as I never had heard this before. We asked about the tunnel that mother said her grandfather, Martin Polin, had told her about from behind the altar to the priest’s house. The answer was, “How did you know about that?” It seems that the entire village had not known about it until about 2 years before we arrived because some gravediggers had fallen into the tunnel while digging a grave. She was very concerned that we had known about it.

Karen and her family went back several years ago. She went on the internet prior to her trip and found someone who spoke English. She was told there was a summer cabin even further up the hill and brought home pictures of it. Sounds like something out of the book of Heidi.

Hopefully, my husband and I will make the trip this year or next, as he has never seen Switzerland or Italy and it is very beautiful.

I will try to work on my part of the research after Easter as we have family coming.

Best wishes,
Rosemarie

From Rosemarie Carrington

Juanita y Jose Polin

Marisa,

Es curioso como a pesar de que muchos sentimos curiosidad por nuestra "pequeña historia" es decir la historia familiar, rara vez alguien se ocupa de ello. En esta ajetreada epoca en que vivimos se valora en exceso la velocidad, el andar rapido y muy ocupado, y en cierta forma esta es la excusa para no detenernos a vivir, a registrar, a sentir.
Cuantas historias interesantes no habra en las familiass son un patrimonio para el que se tiene ceguera y si no se registra, se diluye frente a nosotros como agua entre las manos. O peor, porque a veces ni siquiera lo vimos. Cuantos abuelos, que son precisamente el acceso unico y privilegiado a cuando menos tres generaciones anteriores, estan arrumbados en el rincon y son vistos como estorbo o como visita obligada de una tarde a la semana? Entre las historias que de pronto me gustaria rescatar es la de mi abuela Juanita. La imaginas huyendo de la guerra civil española hacia Francia y despues saliendo de Francia hacia Mexico por el inicio de la Segunda Guerra Mundial? Esa abuela que llega a Veracruz, despues en algun momento viaja al DF y conoce a Jose Polin Tapia, con quien se casa y acaba viviendo en Acapulco. Y esa abuela que resistio todos esos embates y siguio el viaje de frente aun vive. Acaba de cumplir 96 años. Esta muy lucida pero por desgracia fisicamente limitada a raiz de una caida a fines del año pasado que le provoco fractura de cadera.
Un fuerte abrazo y espero que nos veamos pronto,

Manuel Valverde Polin