VALLEY FAMILIES SALUTE THEIR MOMS WITH FAMILY PORTRAITS.
For Debra Pimentel, Mother’s Day is yet one more reason to celebrate the life of her 99-year-old grandmother, Petra Monarrez. ¶ It’s one more chance to honor the matriarch of five generations, the woman who supported her family by picking plums and apricots and wasn’t afraid to raise six children under strict rules. ¶ Pimentel, 54, of Phoenix, said her grandmother did it all with a loving heart, with the hope that teaching the value of being close to family would carry one through life’s struggles. ¶ It is a philosophy that is being passed down generation to generation, Pimentel said. “What does family mean to us? Everything.”
As the family has grown to more than 100, with 31great-great-grandchildren in the fold and members spread from California to New York, it’s getting harder and harder to get everyone together. Gathering for Mother’s Day — with many family members planning to reunite in June for Monarrez’s 100th birthday — makes this a special time, Pimentel said.
Her family was among 14 families who participated in the “I Love My Family” photo project, the latest in The Arizo
na Republic’s series of community connection events, which also includes exhibiting at Artlink Phoenix’s monthly First Fridays downtown.
“It’s important that we come together to celebrate her and each others’ lives,” said Pimentel, who organized 35 family members in all for the group photo session. It was a chance not only to celebrate each other but also Monarrez.
“My grandmother is a blessing,” Pimentel said. “None of us would be here without her.”
On that Saturday, the session couldn’t begin until everyone greeted Monarrez. She was dressed in a simple white shirt, black pants and black flats, but looked regal as one by one, everyone came to give her a hug or kiss.
All five generations were represented. Only one of Monarrez’s three living children was able to attend: Pimentel’s mother, Betty Carillo, 74.
Alexis Carrillo, 30, one of Monarrez’s great-granddaughters, looked on in admiration as the family reunion assembled. “She’s always been there for me,” she said, watching fondly as her three children — ages 2 to 13 — huddled with their great-great-grandmother.
“She told me that being a mother was fun but the work never stops,” Carrillo laughed.
Pimentel asked her grandmother if she ever expected to have such a large family. Monarrez slowly smiled and shook her head, then spoke in Spanish.
“She said she has a lot of love for her children and feels blessed because she always wanted to be a mother,” Pimentel said.
As the photo session began, a family member found a bright pink feather boa in the studio and draped it across Monarrez’s shoulder.
She didn’t protest, smiling just a bit wider.
After more than an hour, family members took turns telling Monarrez goodbye. Some will see her soon for her birthday festivities.
Pimentel said they’ll likely turn to cherished traditions, hanging out in the kitchen, cooking up batches of tamales and shrimp patties, talking and singing.
She said her grandmother will be right there, in the mix, sharing stories of her life.
Monarrez came to Arizona with her parents as a young girl from Sonora, Mexico, settling in the Valley. She would meet Santos Monarrez, the man who became her husband, at a social event in Glendale. He, too, had come to Arizona from Mexico with his parents.
Santos died in 1982; Petra never remarried.
Although she had a job as a cafeteria worker at Washington Elementary School in Phoenix when her children were young, most of her time was as a homemaker. She saw it as her gift to her children, Pimentel said.
“She’s passed down the lessons of being a mother,” said Pimentel, who also has five children. “She was very stern, so was my mother, so was I,” she said. “We are the legacy that she will leave behind.”
As the last of the family left the photo session, Pimentel gingerly held her grandmother one more time and said: “Thank you. We are here because of you.”