Texas and Rodrigo Salinas
May 20, 2004
While preparing for our Edinburg High School, Class of 1955, Golden (50th) Reunion, I was phoning old classmates to inform them of the upcoming events. One name on our list of classmates caught my attention, so I phoned him. He was a neighbor from my childhood. Rodrigo’s family came from Mexico and lived in a palm-thatched home that Rodrigo’s father built local materials about 1/4 mile east of our family home west of Edinburg – on a canal bank.
Rodrigo and my older brother, Bruce became acquainted and formed a lasting friendship. Rodrigo was about a year older than I and maybe 6 years younger than Bruce. He looked up to Bruce as a big-brother figure. According to Rodrigo, Bruce decided that it was his job to teach Rodrigo the English language. Bruce could speak Spanish fairly well (“better than I could,” claims Rodrigo) so when Rodrigo could not understand some word, Bruce could define it in Spanish. But, Bruce’s teaching techniques were not exactly gentle. Whenever Rodrigo forgot or mispronounced a word, Bruce would hit him on the arm. So, Rodrigo had a strong incentive to learn and speak English with Bruce’s south-Texas accent. Later in his life, when asked where he came from, Rodrigo would explain that he was born in Mexico and grew up in Edinburg. “But your English is so good, I thought you were a native American,” was a frequent reply. Anyway, Rodrigo credits Bruce with teaching him his English-speaking skills.
Rodrigo and his younger sister, Adelina rode the same bus as the Sterling kids, went to the Edinburg schools and graduated from high school in 1955. Later, he continued with graduate studies and obtained two Masters degrees. He sold cars with my cousin Margie Flanagan’s husband, Neal for a while, but soon migrated into teaching. He taught in the Edinburg School system for 26 years at almost every level from Kindergarten through 12th grade – with the exception of the 10th and 11th grades. Margie Flanagan taught at the same school and they often reminisced about the Sterling family, and Margie explained that Bruce owned a pecan orchard in Schulenburg. But, when Margie retired from teaching, Rodrigo lost his source of information about Bruce. So, in our conversation, when I explained that Bruce had died of cancer in 1997, Rodrigo was surprised and obviously saddened. “I really wish I could have visited with Bruce before he died,” Rodrigo repeated two or three times during our conversation.
But, Rodrigo brightened when we began chatting about childhood events. He and Bruce hid in our family citrus orchard and when my sister, Peggy passed by on the dirt path between my grandparents home and our home, Rodrigo took target practice on Peggy with a BB gun. He hit Peggy on the leg; she screamed and ran home. Rodrigo begged Bruce not to tell anyone that he had shot my sister or he might be banned by my Dad. To this day, I doubt that my sister Peggy knows who shot her – if she even remembers being shot. He also remembers racing Bruce on horses. When his horse veered unexpectedly, Rodrigo was thrown from the horse and injured his wrist.
During our chinaberry battles with niggershooters, we taunted each other. Bruce chanted “Rodrigo Salinas, cola de gallinas!” Well, at least it rhymed, but if the worst insult one can conjure is to call the opponent a chicken’s tail, there could not have been much animosity behind it. I don’t remember Rodrigo’s reply. And, in one of these battles, Rodrigo accidentally shot Bruce in the eye with a chinaberry. Bruce wore glasses the remainder of his life because of that incident. So, Rodrigo definitely left a lasting impression on Bruce.
When I mentioned that I had married a Turner girl, Rodrigo remembered that her brothers were “mellizos” or twins. The Turners lived about ½ mile from Rodrigo’s home, so he remembered playing with the blond and redheaded twins.
In my phone conversation with Rodrigo, I was moved by his positive comments about my brother. I would have guessed that he might harbor some resentment about Bruce’s heavy-handed teaching methods or his taunting during games. But all I heard from Rodrigo was compliments and sorrow at not having chatted with Bruce before he died.
When I quizzed Rodrigo about his health, he explained that his health was not very good. He has had three strokes that have left one hand very stiff. He had planned to retire after 30 years of teaching but was forced to retire early due to the consequences of the strokes.
When my Dad began farming with Mr. Reising, we moved our home several miles further west of Edinburg and I lost contact with Rodrigo. Although we both graduated from the same class, we had very few contacts during those years. But, during our last Class of 1955 reunion in 1990, Rodrigo stood up and provided an overview of his life history in such clear, south-Texas English that I almost thought I could hear Bruce speaking through Rodrigo. For me, it was the most memorable of all the life stories given at the reunion. Rodrigo was articulate and spoke with great confidence in his ability to communicate. He came from such a humble beginning in his life but went on to provide a positive influence on generations of school kids in the Edinburg community. Because of Rodrigo’s example, Edinburg kids who took his classes now probably speak clearer English, but with some Bruce Sterling, south Texas accent.
I was very proud of Rodrigo for his achievements – I still am.
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