Welcome to y la Familia

Welcome. Our goal is to share the history of our family and interesting related facts as discovered by our family genealogist, Norma (Garcia) Pettit. We hope you find the information interesting, enjoyable and relevant. We also encourage family members to share their stories for a different perspective. As always, we welcome your questions and suggestions.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

We are certain there are many other stories with interesting points of view, particularly those that might help fill gaps in our family’s history. With that in mind, we want to encourage family members to share their stories and photos on this website.

If you have something you would like to share, please send your story to Norma at mamanony@sbcglobal.net, attach photos if you have any, and we will review and publish your submission or get in touch with you if we have any questions. Thank you in advance for your contribution.

Featured Article

DNA Cousins

By Norma Garcia Pettit
Posted November 4, 2023

If you have done your DNA test on Ancestry, you know that you have a list of matches that is broken down into close relatives, first cousins, 2nd-3rd cousins, 4th-6th cousins, etc. Those of us genealogy addicts that are on Facebook refer to the distant cousins as “DNA Cousins”. Back in July, I was contacted by one such DNA cousin, Marisol Colón Santoni, who told me about her friend, Donna Darling, who (like me) wrote a historical novel based in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. However, Donna’s book, The 3 Marias, is set around 1897-1900, while my book, Luisa, is set from 1867-1870. Marisol thought that it would be fun for the three of us to get together and talk about genealogy and our books.

Read the full article...

Past Articles

Guessing Someone’s Age

Posted August 18, 2023

We do it all the time. We meet someone and until we get to know them we estimate how old they are. But how strange would it be to not know your own age? This actually happened to me. Years ago, I was going through some hormonal issues that caused me to have moments of disorientation. During one such episode, I...
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The Basque Contribution

Posted May 31, 2023

I am 100% Puerto Rican. My mother was born in Adjuntas and my father was born in Peñuelas. Their parents were born in Puerto Rico as were their grandparents and great grandparents. I am a Boricua to the core. That being said, when Puerto Ricans have their DNA analyzed, they are often in for a surprise when they see how...
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My Dad, His Fishing Boat, and a Trip Down Memory Lane

Posted April 18, 2023

In 1966, when I was fourteen, my dad (Oscar C. García) retired from the Merchant Marines. We were expecting him to come home to San Francisco and were perplexed when we didn’t hear from him. Eventually, we got a letter from him saying that he was in Puerto Rico. He had bought a 32-ft long fishing boat and was going...
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My “Cookie-Cutter” Childhood Home

Posted February 15, 2023

In my last article, I wrote about the astonishing progress made in housing from one generation to the next in our family. Specifically, I mentioned that my father was born in the mountains of Peñuelas, in the rural mountainside community of Santo Domingo. During the 2009 family reunion hosted by cousin Annie Meléndez, a group of us took a guided...
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Yo Tengo Ya la Casita

Posted October 23, 2022

Last spring we built a storage shed on our property in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico. At my request, Randy designed it to look like a typical Puerto Rican home of yesteryear. When it was completed, we saw people driving by, slowing down, and even stopping to admire La Casita, as we named it. We received many compliments on it, and some...
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Luisa

Posted February 12, 2022

I am known as the family historian. It has been a passion of mine for decades, but my lifelong dream was to write a book. I combined my passion and my dream, recently publishing a novel based on the life of my maternal great-grandmother, Luisa Torres Torres. Our Rivera family hailed from the mountains of Peñuelas and my mother’s side...
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Aunt Delia Rivera Finch: The aunt I wish you all knew

Posted January 19, 2022

My heart hurts with grief as I write this article. Tears streaming down my face as I mourn the loss of my dear and favorite Aunt Delia. Having lost my mom, Angelica, I feel the pain again of losing another loved one so close to my heart. Aunt Delia was like a second mother to me for as long as...
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William Roig (1933-2021)

Posted October 14, 2021

On May 15, 2021, our family lost Bill Roig, oldest child and only son of Auntie Helen. He was 88 years old and had lived a long, fulfilled life which included a successful career as a renowned architect. I first met Cousin Bill in the early 1960s when he traveled to San Francisco to meet his Rivera relatives. It was...
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Newsletter Archives

For more than 20 years, ‘y la Familia?’ newsletter had been published and mailed to family members. The final issue came out in June 2016.

We have saved a copy of all of the newsletters and they are available on this site in the archives. There are many historical and featured articles on family members within their pages. We encourage you to check them out.

Newsletter Archives >>