re: #551 Gus 802

That’s rich. Like the racial mix of many Texans which includes Spaniards, Mexicans, and Germans. I will assume that some Mestizos would also be in the “mix.” Major General Terry de la Mesa Allen, Sr. (Big Red One) whose maternal grandfather was from Spain but fought, ironically, with the Union Army. Of course to the CCC he would be mixed! His mother’s name was Consuelo “Conchita” Alvarez de la Mesa.

At my grandmother’s funeral a little over a year ago, we ended up spending about a half an hour on a self-guided tour of the columbarium at the Catholic cemetery in San Diego. It was amazing—mostly Spanish names on the oldest plaques, then English and Irish ones, German, Italian…and the statues and the windows the same, all different languages and styles.

One faith, many cultures. That’s what America is like, at its core, one ideal, and so many cultures becoming part of it.