This was meant to be read aloud; I encourage my aunts and uncles to read it to their spouses and children.
Early Life
Maria Consuelo Martinez Padilla Velasco was born January 1st, 1927 here in Hayden, AZ to Concepcion and Fidel Padilla—the 11th of 12 children. From childhood she was intelligent, resourceful, strong, and determined.
When she was 9 years old she was walking the hills of Hayden so engaged in a book that she neglected to watch where she was going and fell into a hole that had been dug for a telephone pole. Knowing that the neighborhood boys would often throw rocks down the hole she realized that she would have to get out quickly. She didn’t cry, she didn’t yell or scream or panic; but she waited patiently. Before long she figured a way out of the hole and pressing her back against one wall and her arms and legs against the other she worked her way out of that hole and back into the light of day.
Consuelo grew into a beautiful, brilliant, resourceful woman. She was the valedictorian of her High School class, who after graduation, took a job at the bank. Though she had countless suitors—many declaring their interest even after years of marriage and numerous children—though she had many suitors and a strong desire to raise a family and pour herself out for children to come, she was unwilling to marry just anyone. Despite the fact that her friends and sisters were marrying young, Consuelo would hold out for the right man. Considering herself an old-maid at 21, she met one Bernardo Campillo Velasco and after taking one look at him she know he was both intelligent and superior to all the others. No one knows for sure—she would never admit it!—but there’s a story that before accepting Bernardo’s advances she first looked up his account information to check his balance. While don’t know if this was true, it does reveal that she was concerned above all else with raising and providing for the family she desired.
Marriage and Family
In 1948 Consuelo and Bernardo were married and right away she became pregnant with their first son Bernardo who was born in 1949. In 1950 came Olivia, then Christina in ’53, Virginia in ’58, Reymundo in ’65 and finally Fidel in 1970. Consuelo loved her family and poured out her life for them. Her love was seen in the way she raised them and in her actions, not just with words. She was a constant defender of her children though not blindly.
In those days English speaking children immediately began school in first grade. On Bernie’s first day of school the teacher took him to kindergarten which was reserved for those who first needed to learn the language. Standing up for her son her wit came to the surface when she quickly said, “Talk to him, I think you’ll see that he speaks English.” But her defense of her children was not just an instinctive reaction; she wanted the best for her children, even if that meant discipline. On another occasion Rey had gotten into some trouble on the bus and had been kicked off for a week. She immediately went down to meet with the principal protesting that by getting kicked off the bus Rey was not being punished but rewarded with a personal chauffer. In fact, she argued, she was the one being punished! The principal asked her, “What do you want me to do?” She replied, “What about that?” pointing to a paddle on the wall. “Well how many times?” the principal asked. “Enough to get him on the bus.”
She constantly sought to provide the best for her children, especially with a view to their future. For years she sacrificed time and money for Liva to pursue singing opportunities all over southern Arizona—she was so proud of her family.
The name Consuelo means comfort and although the home was not always peaceful, Consuelo made the best of it she could and, in fact, was a great source of peace and comfort to her children. They remember how often she and Bernardo would drink their coffee and read the paper in the morning under the shade tree and how they would hear the sound of their conversation and laughter. They remember how Bernardo and Consuelo would drive together to the hills to work the claims side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder. Consuelo was always a comfort for her children and later her grandchildren, whether for a snuggle during an afternoon nap or an intimate moment, a word, a secret gift that only the two of them would share. Every one of them—every one of us—was special to Nana and we knew it. She couldn’t hide it if she wanted to: son, daughter, nephew, niece, grand-child and great-grandchild can remember walking into the living room to see her in her chair or on her couch and as soon as she saw you she would smile ear to ear and shout “Mijo!” or “Mija!” She lived her life and sacrificed everything for her family because they were her joy, it was her greatest pleasure. Life revolved around her family and she would rejoice with you and hurt with you. She celebrated our victories and she suffered in our struggles. We were constantly the subject of her thoughts and prayers.
Although she was primarily a wife and a mother she was also active in the community working to overcome poverty, serving in the church with the altar society, writing pieces for the Copper Basin Newspaper, and even running for Hayden city council and mayor.
In 1984 it was time for a change, again for the good of her children. Finding that there was little peace at home in Hayden she moved out of the house taking a teenage Fidel with her to provide a better life for him. She told Bernardo that she was moving to Tucson and she gave him the option to follow—which he did after about two weeks.
A Working Woman with Wit
Her love of learning and of thinking never left her. Once the kids were grown and in college or otherwise out of the house Connie, as she was known later in life would read 2 books a week on top of returning to work: first as a nanny, then grading papers at the University of Arizona. Once while working at a law office she was reprimanded for giving her input and told that she wasn’t paid to think. “If you’re not paying me to think” she said, then I’m out of here” and immediately left.
Consuelo was a shrewd business woman, looking not only at a prospective deal on its face, but how it would impact those she cared about. When looking to sell one property at the age of 70 the buyer sought 30-year financing from Connie herself. At first she resisted but then realized, “If I take anything less than 30-years I’m betting against myself.” Although she was often teased for being cheap, her frugality wasn’t borne of selfishness, it was for the sake of those she loved. She was a generous woman and by spending less on herself she could spend more on us.
Grandmother
What I, and the largest number of us here knew Consuelo as was grandmother, Nana. Nana Connie loved her grandchildren and would do anything to be with them and to be involved in their lives—even if it meant Minnesota winters. When grandchildren were born Nana was right there to love her growing family whether that took her up north to the frozen tundra or out east to San Antonio. Gina remembers how when her girls were born that after waking up early to feed them before going to work that she would take them into Nana’s room and lay them in her bed to sleep the rest of the morning with their Nana. Then, when Gina would come home from work Nana would announce that she was “off the clock” and would go to her room to watch her Novellas and let the rest of the family be a family for the evening. She was always thinking of others.
Cancer
In 1999 Consuelo fell down another telephone hole of sorts when she was diagnosed with Stage IV ovarian cancer and was given less than a year to live. Issuing the diagnosis her doctor told her that it would be ok to cry, many did. Courageously she said, “What? It won’t do any good, will it?” It wasn’t that she didn’t fear, or that she never felt pain, but hers had been a life of bearing the pain and fears of others—giving comfort to those around her as her name suggests. In fact, when she would go in for treatments her concern and her prayers were more for the other patients around her than for herself. Once, in the middle of one her many bouts with cancer, her son-in-law Gary became extremely sick and every day she stayed 6” from the phone waiting for the call from Chris to hear that everything was OK. For over 10 years she climbed out of that hole; over and over defeating cancer always having a fantastic attitude not merely because that’s what it would take to defeat cancer, but for the sake of her children and grandchildren who she loved and spent her life serving.
The last thing that Consuelo wanted to be for her family was a burden; and those who cared for her in her final months knew how much she appreciated their sacrifices and how much it meant to her to have her love so selflessly returned.
On Saturday March 13, 2010 Nana Connie succumbed, not to cancer—though it had weakened her severely—but to an infection. In the presence of one of her daughters whom she dearly loved—like her entire family—she passed from this life and went to her Creator. Like countless others before her, like everyone of us to follow, her life on this earth came to a close only to be continued in eternity.
Maria Consuelo Martinez Padilla Velasco is an irreplaceable part of so many lives and some wonder what life could be like without their mom, their Nana, their cheerleader, their friend. One said to me last night how life would be unimaginable without her. It would be like no longer having the Sun but only the moon or learning to breathe nitrogen rather than oxygen. Nana Connie, we love you, your memory will live with us as long as we live—we will remember your wit, your charm, and your beauty, we will remember your selfless love and sacrifice; we will remember you and our hope is to meet you again with great joy in the presence of our God and Savior.
