Finally ready to celebrate — and heal
Son of man slain during 1997 Fiesta de Santa Fe returns to bring family together, remember father
Andrew Romero and his family haven’t had much of a reason to celebrate the annual Fiesta de Santa Fe for the past 20 years. Just before the Fiesta of 1997, Andrew’s father, Carlos Romero, was shot and killed on the Plaza following the burning of Zozobra. Every successive Fiesta weekend, when Santa Fe has celebrated the cultural and religious aspects of the reconquest of the city by the Spanish more than 300 years ago, the Romero family has grieved.
“It was hard to embrace the traditions in our culture because of that story [about the shooting],” said Felicia Romero, Carlos Romero’s sister.
On Sunday, Andrew Romero, who was just a year old when his father was killed, paid homage to the slain man by participating in an annual Fiesta de Santa Fe procession to carry the ancient Marian statue La Conquistadora to Rosario Chapel for a series of Roman Catholic novena Masses, part of a long tradition tied to the Fiesta celebration.
When Gen. Don Diego de Vargas returned to the city in the late 1700s following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, he brought La Conquistadora with him and made a vow to venerate her each year.
By taking part in the procession, Romero drew together more than 15 family members who said they are finally ready to celebrate — and heal.
Now serving as a U.S. Army specialist in human resources, Andrew Romero was home on leave while between assignments, traveling from Germany to his new base in Japan.
“I can’t be here in September for the memorial for my father,” he said, “but I wanted to participate in something to remember him. I wanted to do something for him.”
The afternoon procession included a vesper celebration at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assis, the knighting of the man who is portraying de Vargas during this year’s Fiesta and the coronation of the Santa Fe Fiesta royalty. Several hundred people, including Romero’s girlfriend, Annemarie Lynn Dube, took part.
For Romero, the experience was like coming back home.
“I feel like part of New Mexico,” he said.
He’s been gone about five years, he said, moving first to El Paso and then to Washington state with his mother, Corinthia Tapia.
But the father he barely knew remains with him, in dreams, prayers and thoughts.
“When I was younger and things would go wrong, I would wonder what things would have been like to have him here, what would have been different,” said Romero, who turns 21 in September. “A couple of times I cried. Obviously, it sent ripples through my family in a big way.”
Police say Carlos Romero was shot dead in a gang-related crime. Family members have long denied that he was a member of a gang, as police claimed at the time.
The shooter, Stephen Ulibarri, accepted a plea agreement in 1999 and served 18 months for the crime after two separate juries could not come to a decision in the case.
Andrew Romero’s memories of his father are dim, but he knows that when he would wake up crying in the night, his dad would take him out of the crib, cradle him in his arms, and hold him until the boy fell asleep.
At such a young age, Romero could not fully understand that his father was gone. He can’t remember how or when he found out.
During the 2007 Fiesta celebration, when his family commemorated the 10th anniversary of Carlos Romero’s death, Andrew Romero wrote a card to his father that said, “Dad, I miss you and wish you were here to accompany us.” He left it on a tree near where his father died.
As Sunday’s procession moved down Guadalupe Street and began to make the turn into Rosario Cemetery, Andrew Romero saw the nearby landmarks that reminded him of all the times when his grandmother would take him there to visit his father’s grave.
When the procession was over, he led a dozen family members to that grave, where they cleared away weeds and straw and left some plastic flowers.
Looking at a favorite color portrait of his father’s face, Romero said he gets the sense that his dad was a man who knew how to carry himself, whether he was alone in introspective thought or out with friends.
“I try to be like that picture,” Romero said.
As a child, Romero dreamed of being an artist, a paleontologist or a writer, but after talking with family members who served in the military, he chose to join the U.S. Army for a five-year tour.
The Army is a family in its own, Andrew said, full of people who want to help others. And for him, it reinforces the need to help his own family.
“The world is kind of crazy now,” he said. “It’s important to reflect on who is beside you, who supports you, who will stay by your side. It’s important to hold on to things like family.”
Felicia Romero said she feels that her nephew’s return may serve as a turning point for the family when it comes to the Fiesta.
“It’s not just coincidence that he’s here,” she said. “It’s heartwarming. I don’t know any other word to describe it.”
Contact Robert Nott at 505-986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.