Mayelen Garijo

From Zumieta to Winnemucca Mayelen Garijo

The lives of Granma Fani and Grandpa Juan, a young couple starting a family, would take a drastic turn at the start of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). When Grandpa refuses to join the Nationalist Army led by Francisco Franco, that was supported by Nazi Germany, and that would bring down the Spanish democratic government known as the Second Spanish Republic, Grandpa is forced to flee to France. This would trigger a series of events and of a long journey to find freedom and a better life. Their arduous journey would take them from a small village in the Basque Country of Northern Spain, where Grandma had been born, to France at the start of World War II (1939-1945), back to Spain under Franco's Dictatorship Regime (1936-1975), and eventually to the U. S. A. While Grandpa Juan endured hard conditions in the concentration camps, Grandma Fani encountered many challenges of her own. Left alone with the children, Grandma would prove to be a resilient-strong woman; a faithful wife; and a devoted mother. She would adapt to new circumstances over and over again, always looking for the betterment of the entire family. An ironic destiny for two very different people: Grandpa an unconventional man, abandoned at birth, struggled with abandonment issues, yet had no problem leaving the family behind due in part to political ideology, but also to his adventurous spirit which remained with him until his death. Grandma, a family woman, with long rooted ties and traditions to her family and the Basque Country, finds herself during a long period of time completely abandoned by her husband, yet when the opportunity arrives to reunite with him she doesn't think twice. Through her entire life she worked hard trying to keep the family together. This book tries to recount their many adventures.