Fables and Rewrites and Truth

The more I learn about my grandmother's time at St. Kate's, the clearer it becomes that I know nothing at all.

Or perhaps I am just learning that all family stories should be appreciated for their colorfulness not necessarily their veracity.

In any case, the story becomes less sparkly in that controversial way but more truthful or at least more representative of factual accounting - however possible that is over a hundred years later.

It turns out that my grandmother was at St. Kate's with two sisters, her older brother, and two "cousins" from the family that inherited the Varela siblings.

It appears they went home every summer to Las Cruces and one year one of her sisters stayed home--perhaps she was sick. That year my grandma did not pass to the next academic level, making me think that she was worried.

Yes, like previous stories about her time there, this is a creation of the mind. All I know for sure is one was not on the rolls for a particular year and that same year the other did not pass.

The data for this story creation is sparse, incomplete and wrapped on its own fable about Indian education.

This story making is a new theme among many that are emerging from the archive research.