Friday, January 10, 2014
Snap Krackle 'n Pop!: Found: Antonio Rosell Carbonell, the most importan...
Snap Krackle 'n Pop!: Found: Antonio Rosell Carbonell, the most importan...: Found Antonio Rosell Carbonell: The most important and missing link to the Santiago family tree. Yesterday I was goog...
Found: Antonio Rosell Carbonell, the most important and missing link to the Santiago family tree
Found Antonio Rosell Carbonell: The most important and missing link to
the Santiago family tree.
Yesterday I was googling pictures for my Women in White page, when I came
upon a very interesting article on the pirate Cofresi. Upon further reading I
found that Cofresi's mother was of the distinguished Ramirez de Arellano family
of Cabo Rojo. Cofresi didn't have any children of his own to carry on his
name. His only son died very young. As for Cofresi's two brothers, after
the infamous feats their younger brother pulled off, they most likely preferred
not to be associated with the Cofresi name, and so opted (with good reason, I
should add) to use their mother's name instead.
One of Cofresi's nephews or grandnephews (I'm not sure, as I need to do
more research), married a young girl by the last name of Roselle. Lorenza, or
Lorencita, died of typhus fever at the early age of eighteen. Her father was
Antonio Roselle, a colonel in the Spanish army and stationed in Guayama, in the
southern part of the island. Antonio was born in Spain around 1820, and married
Juana Josefa who bore him three daughters but no sons.
Antonio met Bernardina Batista, the young daughter of Jose and Mercedes Batista,
much later on in life. She must have fallen in love with the
distinguished older officer, enough to risk getting pregnant and bearing him a
son, an illegitimate son whom she named Juan Anacleto.
Records show that Anacleto was born in July of 1880. Antonio was close to
60 then. As an officer of the elite Spanish army, we're certain that he
could not afford to be mixed up in an extramarital affair, or much less,
beget illegitimate children. At her age, his beautiful young girl lover gave
birth to a son. But because of the particulars of this story expressed above,
Bernardina chose to baptize her son by herself. She did so in the church of Guayama a year
after his birth. She must have deduced
that Antonio Rosell was never going to upset his marriage to Juana Josefa or his
military career; and so she did the right thing. There is no record of the
father, nor any information pertaining to his whereabouts, on the baptismal
certificate. The fact that he was Spanish, would explain why he wasn't found in
any of the island's demographic registries.
That illegitimate son of Col. Antonio Rosell, was none other than our
beloved grandfather, Anacleto Santiago, Mom's dad who loved his children, especially
his Gandulito, with an unconditional love. Read my book The Women in
White.
Records show that Bernardina later took a husband by the name of Jose Maria
de Santiago. It would make sense that her firstborn illegitimate son should
take the name of his stepfather.
In summary, Papa's sister Lorencita Roselle, was married to a nephew or
grandnephew of the famous pirate Cofresi who stole from the rich to give to the
poor. Papa would have been either the nephew or grandnephew of Cofresi
the pirate from Cabo Rojo. Throughout the history of our family there
have been many links between Guayama and Cabo Rojo.
It turns out that our family is in some twist of fate somewhat related to
Cofresi. All this is documented and not a figment of my imagination.
I have all the records to prove everything I write here. I have
been diligently working on our family tree for almost two years, but I gave up
the search for our great granddad, Antonio Roselle, a year ago when Mom passed
away.
What a coincidence that this information was made known to me, only three
days before Mom's one year anniversary of going home to the Lord. Coincidence? I don’t think so. I truly believe this was Mom's gift to us
before she leaves once-and-for-all for her eternal dwelling place. After
all, she was my biggest supporter when I was working on our family tree, and
would spend endless hours on the phone with me trying to help me piece together
our family history. She wanted to know who her grandfather was, as much
as I did.
Mom, this one is for you! You never did cease to amaze me!
Thank you from all of us, your children, grandchildren, nieces and
nephews, for this last truly and unique gift! I will love you always and
forever!
With all my love,
S.
Sent from
my iPhone
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Snap Krackle 'n Pop!: Goodbye, farewell, we hate to see you go! Not!!!
Snap Krackle 'n Pop!: Goodbye, farewell, we hate to see you go! Not!!!: Goodbye, farewell, we hate to see you go. Not!!! As we near the last days of 2013, we can't help but look back fondly (or not ...
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Snap Krackle 'n Pop!: A Highly Unexpected Surprise on The Eve of All Sou...
Snap Krackle 'n Pop!: A Highly Unexpected Surprise on The Eve of All Sou...: As I'm sure most of you know, All Saints' Day is always celebrated on the 1st of November, followed by All Souls' Day. And, as ...
A Highly Unexpected Surprise on The Eve of All Souls' Day!
As I'm sure most of you know, All Saints' Day is always celebrated on the 1st of November, followed by All Souls' Day. And, as I posted in my last post, this is a very holy day for Catholics. Unfortunately, yesterday I was so preoccupied with an article on aging that I've been working on, that it totally escaped my mind and consequently I didn't make it to Mass.
After working on my article all day and downloading some pictures I had taken for it, I proceeded to check the pictures for errors. I was taken aback when I saw several orbs of different sizes in many of the pictures, either directly on my person or surrounding me.
Depending on who one talks to, these orbs can mean spirits that are within close proximity; or just plain orbs resulting from different reflections of light. To be honest, I was not so much perplexed with my findings, as I was joy-filled; and later, over dinner I mentioned it to my girls. Jules, who's good at trying to make people feel good, suggested that the orbs might be my late Victor's spirit watching over me. Which is exactly what I would like to believe! However, because of my Protestant upbringing, I have a hard time embracing orbs, spirits and the like. Read my book, The Women in White, and you'll see why. The thought that any spirit, good or bad, aside from the Holy Spirit, might be in my midst, is hard for me to wrap my brain around.
Very early this morning, I awoke from quite possibly one of the most beautiful and surreal dreams I have ever experienced. It was so vivid, so surreal, so palpable, that at that precise moment I could swear it was real.
It was evening and I had gone for a walk to enjoy the brisk fresh air. I paused, looked around, and looked up at the beautiful night sky. There, up in the air but close enough that I could almost reach out and touch it, a straight path lead from one side of the spectrum to the other. I was not so much taken aback by this revelation, as I was by the next. As clear as day, a handsome man dressed in a suit and tie, appeared to be walking along on the skyward path. And when I looked closely, lo and behold, the man was my own beloved Victor. Mesmerized, in shock and in denial, I asked myself over and over again, "How could this be, Victor is dead!"
When our eyes met, he motioned for me to stay, that he was stepping down to meet me. As I stood in shock, paralized, and completely stopped in my tracks, I witnessed how he effortlessly came down off the path and started walking toward me. "Yet, he's as alive as I am!" I convinced myself, as he came closer to me, sporting the signature dimpled smile on his always handsome face.
And then we were holding each other, and a loving warmth unlike anything in real life overtook me. And as we kissed, I stopped trying to figure it out and surrendered to the moment in time, convinced that my love had never died. As we held each other in this seemingly eternal embrace, all sense of place, time, event, eluded me. I could only feel the warmth of our love and an inner all-around peace, and meant to be with this man who was so alive and well. This man who had never died! And when we composed ourselves, never letting go of me, he whispered, "Let me walk you back home." And I could only nod yes. Then together we walked back home, embracing and enraptured in the warmth and the light of our love.
Once back home and still in each other's arms, the loving warm feeling never leaving me, he gently whispered something else in my ear that which I cannot remember. And this was the saddest part - Vic started to fade away - not pull away, just slowly fade away. And with him, the warmth I had felt, also started to leave me. Yet somehow I was okay, because in my heart I knew that this was how it had to be.
I've never believed or disbelieved. Is it mere coincidence, or is it God-incidence that my unique gift in the form of a dream was made possible on All Souls' Day, of all days? There are so many questions and so little answers.
Once again, I am in awe and so grateful to God for gifting me in such a beautiful way, for in eleven years that Victor has been gone, I never had such a precious and surreal dream. Yes, I dream with Vic from time to time! And yes, he is always happy, healthy, and carefree. But this was by far, the most heartfelt and generous of all my Victor dreams! And all, on the Eve of All Souls' Day.
After working on my article all day and downloading some pictures I had taken for it, I proceeded to check the pictures for errors. I was taken aback when I saw several orbs of different sizes in many of the pictures, either directly on my person or surrounding me.
Depending on who one talks to, these orbs can mean spirits that are within close proximity; or just plain orbs resulting from different reflections of light. To be honest, I was not so much perplexed with my findings, as I was joy-filled; and later, over dinner I mentioned it to my girls. Jules, who's good at trying to make people feel good, suggested that the orbs might be my late Victor's spirit watching over me. Which is exactly what I would like to believe! However, because of my Protestant upbringing, I have a hard time embracing orbs, spirits and the like. Read my book, The Women in White, and you'll see why. The thought that any spirit, good or bad, aside from the Holy Spirit, might be in my midst, is hard for me to wrap my brain around.
Very early this morning, I awoke from quite possibly one of the most beautiful and surreal dreams I have ever experienced. It was so vivid, so surreal, so palpable, that at that precise moment I could swear it was real.
It was evening and I had gone for a walk to enjoy the brisk fresh air. I paused, looked around, and looked up at the beautiful night sky. There, up in the air but close enough that I could almost reach out and touch it, a straight path lead from one side of the spectrum to the other. I was not so much taken aback by this revelation, as I was by the next. As clear as day, a handsome man dressed in a suit and tie, appeared to be walking along on the skyward path. And when I looked closely, lo and behold, the man was my own beloved Victor. Mesmerized, in shock and in denial, I asked myself over and over again, "How could this be, Victor is dead!"
When our eyes met, he motioned for me to stay, that he was stepping down to meet me. As I stood in shock, paralized, and completely stopped in my tracks, I witnessed how he effortlessly came down off the path and started walking toward me. "Yet, he's as alive as I am!" I convinced myself, as he came closer to me, sporting the signature dimpled smile on his always handsome face.
And then we were holding each other, and a loving warmth unlike anything in real life overtook me. And as we kissed, I stopped trying to figure it out and surrendered to the moment in time, convinced that my love had never died. As we held each other in this seemingly eternal embrace, all sense of place, time, event, eluded me. I could only feel the warmth of our love and an inner all-around peace, and meant to be with this man who was so alive and well. This man who had never died! And when we composed ourselves, never letting go of me, he whispered, "Let me walk you back home." And I could only nod yes. Then together we walked back home, embracing and enraptured in the warmth and the light of our love.
Once back home and still in each other's arms, the loving warm feeling never leaving me, he gently whispered something else in my ear that which I cannot remember. And this was the saddest part - Vic started to fade away - not pull away, just slowly fade away. And with him, the warmth I had felt, also started to leave me. Yet somehow I was okay, because in my heart I knew that this was how it had to be.
I've never believed or disbelieved. Is it mere coincidence, or is it God-incidence that my unique gift in the form of a dream was made possible on All Souls' Day, of all days? There are so many questions and so little answers.
Once again, I am in awe and so grateful to God for gifting me in such a beautiful way, for in eleven years that Victor has been gone, I never had such a precious and surreal dream. Yes, I dream with Vic from time to time! And yes, he is always happy, healthy, and carefree. But this was by far, the most heartfelt and generous of all my Victor dreams! And all, on the Eve of All Souls' Day.
Snap Krackle 'n Pop!: The Women in White, by Silvie Vargas
Snap Krackle 'n Pop!: The Women in White, by Silvie Vargas: Silvie Vargas' newest novel, The Women in White, is worth every cent and every second of your time. You will find yourself laughing, cr...
The Women in White, by Silvie Vargas
Silvie Vargas' newest novel, The Women in White, is worth every cent and every second of your time. You will find yourself laughing, crying and cheering for our heroine, as she reveals what can be accomplished with the right amount of determination.
In her quest to find her roots on the island where she first saw life, Samantha Rivas embarks on the emotional journey of a lifetime. What she learns will shake and shape her to the core, forcing her to come to grip with her own blurry past. Suddenly, things that have been buried deep in her subconscious come to light one lonely night in a suburb of New Jersey, leaving Samantha in the fight of her life as she's forced to face her own dark demons. From her grandmother's long-time struggle to win over evil spirits, to a falling-out that forces the family to change their surname, it all comes back in full apogee for better or for worse. Her family values and her upbringing will be the deciding factor in the final outcome of Samantha's and her daughters' lives.
Journey through time with Sam and her family as they travel from humble Puerto Rico to bustling New York, overcome obstacles to discover true love, and reconcile ethnic ties with modern-day ambitions in this tribute to the boricua women of past and present. Their strength and courage will leave you with the knowledge that there is always hope for a brighter tomorrow.
In her quest to find her roots on the island where she first saw life, Samantha Rivas embarks on the emotional journey of a lifetime. What she learns will shake and shape her to the core, forcing her to come to grip with her own blurry past. Suddenly, things that have been buried deep in her subconscious come to light one lonely night in a suburb of New Jersey, leaving Samantha in the fight of her life as she's forced to face her own dark demons. From her grandmother's long-time struggle to win over evil spirits, to a falling-out that forces the family to change their surname, it all comes back in full apogee for better or for worse. Her family values and her upbringing will be the deciding factor in the final outcome of Samantha's and her daughters' lives.
Journey through time with Sam and her family as they travel from humble Puerto Rico to bustling New York, overcome obstacles to discover true love, and reconcile ethnic ties with modern-day ambitions in this tribute to the boricua women of past and present. Their strength and courage will leave you with the knowledge that there is always hope for a brighter tomorrow.
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