A BIT OF QUADALAJARA FOLKLORE
I'm back after an obvious lengthy sabbatical. I can blame it on the weather - caught between the oppressive Phoenix summertime HEAT and my archaic arctic A/C system! For a quadriplegic, Phoenix ain't the place to be during the summer. And to think, if things had worked out I'd have spent July and August in San Diego --- at the beach!
One of life's "Oh well's."
I'm looking at a new old photo taken in the mid-sixties at the beer garden in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco - outside of Guadalajara. In the photo, which I plan to have scanned soon, you can see three couples sitting at a table with a few other men in the foreground or off to the side. On the table are a number of empty and not-so-empty beer bottles. Behind the group you can see some of Jalisco's famous Mariachis, ready to surround you with song from their string and horn instruments that must be experienced to be appreciated.
Even though this photo was taken long before I ever heard of Guadalajara or knew what a quadriplegic was, it appears to be just a typical sunny Sunday afternoon in Tlaquepaque with quadriplegic Gringos socializing with attractive Mexican senoritas.
I only wish that I had received this photo while working on the book. It might have even graced the cover?
I get mixed emotions while glancing at it. I knew some of the people. I heard of others and stories associated with them that have been confirmed in recent years. I know Teresa Beilsmith. Her husband Bob was a good friend, as well as, poker playing and horse track betting buddy who once won a "little" restaurant from a close friend on the turn of a card (QUADALAJARA, page 146)! Crazy times for quads who far outlived their institutional life expectancy!
My good friend Bill Christensen often mentioned a guy named "Cookie" who was instrumental in helping Bill first leave the safe confines of the Hines VA Hospital. Soon "Chris" --- as he became known in Quadalajara --- was on his way to an uncertain future South-of-the-Border. He currently lives in Scottsdale, AZ with his own Mexican senorita from days gone by. In fact, the Christensen's recently became grandparents!
After reading QUADALAJARA - The Utopia That Once Was, Paraplegia News editor/publisher. Cliff Crase remarked, "I always wondered what happened to Cookie?" (I subsequently found out the "Cookie" was Donald "Cookie" Meinberg,.)
I had heard of "Ernesto" Ernie Swanson. One of my early Mexican caregivers had worked previously for Ernie and held him in high esteem. We never met. Until I saw this photo, I had no face to associate with the name. Now I do.
One thing that I did know was that there was tragedy in Ernie's life. One of the pretty senoritas in the photo took her own life --- for reasons that I'd rather not speculate on. Ernie and Cookie had been seriously dating sisters, and the tragic death of one sister would doom the relationship of Cookie and the other sister. Cookie eventually left Quadalajara and lived out his life in southern California.
Bob and Teresa Beilsmith married in 1967 and lived together in Phoenix until Bob passed away in 1995. Which reminds me, I owe Teresa a phone call...........
http://www.quadmexico.com/
One of life's "Oh well's."
I'm looking at a new old photo taken in the mid-sixties at the beer garden in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco - outside of Guadalajara. In the photo, which I plan to have scanned soon, you can see three couples sitting at a table with a few other men in the foreground or off to the side. On the table are a number of empty and not-so-empty beer bottles. Behind the group you can see some of Jalisco's famous Mariachis, ready to surround you with song from their string and horn instruments that must be experienced to be appreciated.
Even though this photo was taken long before I ever heard of Guadalajara or knew what a quadriplegic was, it appears to be just a typical sunny Sunday afternoon in Tlaquepaque with quadriplegic Gringos socializing with attractive Mexican senoritas.
I only wish that I had received this photo while working on the book. It might have even graced the cover?
I get mixed emotions while glancing at it. I knew some of the people. I heard of others and stories associated with them that have been confirmed in recent years. I know Teresa Beilsmith. Her husband Bob was a good friend, as well as, poker playing and horse track betting buddy who once won a "little" restaurant from a close friend on the turn of a card (QUADALAJARA, page 146)! Crazy times for quads who far outlived their institutional life expectancy!
My good friend Bill Christensen often mentioned a guy named "Cookie" who was instrumental in helping Bill first leave the safe confines of the Hines VA Hospital. Soon "Chris" --- as he became known in Quadalajara --- was on his way to an uncertain future South-of-the-Border. He currently lives in Scottsdale, AZ with his own Mexican senorita from days gone by. In fact, the Christensen's recently became grandparents!
After reading QUADALAJARA - The Utopia That Once Was, Paraplegia News editor/publisher. Cliff Crase remarked, "I always wondered what happened to Cookie?" (I subsequently found out the "Cookie" was Donald "Cookie" Meinberg,.)
I had heard of "Ernesto" Ernie Swanson. One of my early Mexican caregivers had worked previously for Ernie and held him in high esteem. We never met. Until I saw this photo, I had no face to associate with the name. Now I do.
One thing that I did know was that there was tragedy in Ernie's life. One of the pretty senoritas in the photo took her own life --- for reasons that I'd rather not speculate on. Ernie and Cookie had been seriously dating sisters, and the tragic death of one sister would doom the relationship of Cookie and the other sister. Cookie eventually left Quadalajara and lived out his life in southern California.
Bob and Teresa Beilsmith married in 1967 and lived together in Phoenix until Bob passed away in 1995. Which reminds me, I owe Teresa a phone call...........
http://www.quadmexico.com/
posted by Jack at 8:09 PM
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