I think this is kind of hard since I don't have a lot of info on my dad. I recently asked family members to provide me with old stories about him growing up and this is what they shared with me so far. Vctor Manuel Gonzalez Soler, born some time in November 1950 (there is some confusion as to the real birth date). He was the youngest of 13 kids as I recently found out through some family members. He was the baby of the family so of course he got spoiled rotten. He loved to sing, play soccer, riding his motorcycle and to build things. He did not like school that much but was a very smart guy. At the age of 16 he moved to Boston to live with friends and that is how he learned some English. Went back home and worked with his dad for a while building machines for his family business, a saw mill. After a while he started his own company building very complex machinery including big mixers for bakeries and he even got recognized by the president of Guatemala at that moment (around 1970's) for his mixers.. it was a big deal. He had a very successful business and just when things were starting to get better he found out he was dying of cancer at the age of 31. He died 7 months later just after turning 32.
Blanca Isabel Garcia Noriega de Gonzalez born on August 7 1953. Second to youngest in a family of 9. She was raised in the Catholic faith and was a very good child. Went to school but didn't like it either and after attending a secretarial school for a year decided to quit and go to work. Worked as a shoe sales person and learned to speak Catalan (a dialect from Spain) since the owners were from Spain. Met my dad when she was about 21 and got married shortly after. They got married against the wishes of my dad's family and he had to lie saying she was pregnant and it was the right thing to do. Later on my mom found out the whole family was expecting her to start showing and she had no idea what they were talking about.
My dad wrote the story of how they met and how my mom changed his life for good. He was a little bit lost in the world trying all sorts of things then he met my mom who was a saint and didn't even like drinking so he changed his ways. They got married at a courthouse but my dad decided not to get married at a catholic church because he thought that one day they might find a different faith and convert and it was better to wait.
Sure enough a few years later he let the missionaries into his home and wanted to get baptized right there on the spot. I think he had to wait a week or so, my mom was pregnant at the moment and was not sure about the whole thing but she did it anyways.
About 3 years later my parents made the decision to get married in the LDS Temple and the closest one at the time was the Arizona temple. They had to sell their fridge to be able to buy bus tickets and took my older brother Nefi and me on a long 15 day trip. I think some how my dad had a feeling he was not going to make it very far in this life.
I was blessed with great parents, I barely knew my dad but I do have some good memories of him. My mom had a hard life raising her three kids and I really don't know how she kept it together for so long, sacrificing her entire life for her kids. I will for ever be grateful for their example and the good teaching. My dad was loved by many and I literally was stopped by strangers that would let me know of his good deeds before he passed away.
I have to say that my mom is a great woman and taught me how to be a good wife, she probably wasn't the best mother in the world growing up but I so understand now how hard it is to deal with the little people. She didn't have a lot of money so she took cake decorating classes and after she graduated she started her own business selling cakes, she was very good at it and very creative. She sold most of her cakes to Burger King for their birthday parties. That is how she was able to afford clothing, food and a place for us to live. She has always loved cooking and even took some cooking classes to expand her knowledge. It was great trying out new meals every week. She loved going to the church and learning new crafts, she loved to keep a clean house. I did not get to see my mom for 6 long years, it was a tough time. She was diagnosed with cancer and being so far away from her and not being able to get out of the country was the hardest thing to deal with but we were so blessed to get a second chance and after a blessing performed by my youngest brother she went into remission. Til this day the doctors can't explain what happened but we know. We are blessed to have her around for much longer and she has been a great grandmother to my kids.
I Hyde was born of goodly parents.
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