Derril trying to fill his Dad's shoes
My Derril is a Mexican. Yep, a white Mexican. Well, actually he was born in Mesa. He does have what he calls a "cartia". Says that shows he marched with the Mexican Army and that it is better than a Mexican Birth Certificate. It really is just the equivalent of Mexican ROTC. He and little sister Ivelen are the only 2 out of 8 children born in the States. His parents also were born and raised in Mexico.
Helen and Hilven Cluff
The Cluffs moved back to Mexico when Derril was 5 years old. He came back out to the States to attend 1 year at BYU when he was about 18 and then returned to Mexico and served a mission in Vera Cruz (southern Mexico).
Elder Derril Cluff (Pday)
Shortly after returning home from his mission, maybe less than 2 months, he broke his back. He was in Pacheco at the time and it was a 3 hour bumpy ride in the back of a pickup truck just to get to a doctor.
Derril at Good Samaritan Rehab
He returned permanently to the States after his accident. Lucky for me. Going to visit his parents in Pacheco was a real experience. It was like going back in time 100 years. They lived in a place that had no electricity, even the refrigerator was run on propane. We would even read at night by lantern. No television or radio. When we first got married, they weren't quite finished with the indoor plumbing so we still had to use the outhouse.
Randi with Dingo and a couple of calves
We got the drinking water from the well out front by dropping a bucket tied to a rope down the well and then pulling it back up full of clean clear water. It was very primitive and you felt like you were playing Little House on the Prairie. Even the mail came by pony express, seriously.
Colonia Pacheco, Mexico
Pacheco, in the beautiful Sierra Madre Mountains, is a 25 mile drive from Colonia Juarez (CJ is 150 miles southwest of El Paso, TX). The road was so bad and bumpy that it took 3 hours to drive the 25 miles. The road was wide enough for 1 vehicle so if you met a logging truck, or any vehicle for that matter, coming the opposite direction, the bigger vehicle had the right of way and you would have to back down the road until you found a place to pull over so the bigger vehicle could pass. Derril told me that the road was origianlly going to be a railroad but the guy behind the project was on the Titanic so the road was never finished. Derril's dad had a dairy ranch in Pacheco. He would milk the cows by hand, his Mom would make cheese from the milk. When we would visit I got to help with the cheese making, butter churning and bottling of various fruits and vegetables. I remember sitting on the side of the stove with my hand (up to my elbow) in the tub of milk stirring until the temperature of 110 was reached. The tub was huge, maybe held 20 gallons of milk. Derril chuckles as he remembers it was the tub he use to bathe in as a kid. to be continued.....
My Derril is a Mexican. Yep, a white Mexican. Well, actually he was born in Mesa. He does have what he calls a "cartia". Says that shows he marched with the Mexican Army and that it is better than a Mexican Birth Certificate. It really is just the equivalent of Mexican ROTC. He and little sister Ivelen are the only 2 out of 8 children born in the States. His parents also were born and raised in Mexico.
Helen and Hilven Cluff
The Cluffs moved back to Mexico when Derril was 5 years old. He came back out to the States to attend 1 year at BYU when he was about 18 and then returned to Mexico and served a mission in Vera Cruz (southern Mexico).
Elder Derril Cluff (Pday)
Shortly after returning home from his mission, maybe less than 2 months, he broke his back. He was in Pacheco at the time and it was a 3 hour bumpy ride in the back of a pickup truck just to get to a doctor.
Derril at Good Samaritan Rehab
He returned permanently to the States after his accident. Lucky for me. Going to visit his parents in Pacheco was a real experience. It was like going back in time 100 years. They lived in a place that had no electricity, even the refrigerator was run on propane. We would even read at night by lantern. No television or radio. When we first got married, they weren't quite finished with the indoor plumbing so we still had to use the outhouse.
Randi with Dingo and a couple of calves
We got the drinking water from the well out front by dropping a bucket tied to a rope down the well and then pulling it back up full of clean clear water. It was very primitive and you felt like you were playing Little House on the Prairie. Even the mail came by pony express, seriously.
Colonia Pacheco, Mexico
Pacheco, in the beautiful Sierra Madre Mountains, is a 25 mile drive from Colonia Juarez (CJ is 150 miles southwest of El Paso, TX). The road was so bad and bumpy that it took 3 hours to drive the 25 miles. The road was wide enough for 1 vehicle so if you met a logging truck, or any vehicle for that matter, coming the opposite direction, the bigger vehicle had the right of way and you would have to back down the road until you found a place to pull over so the bigger vehicle could pass. Derril told me that the road was origianlly going to be a railroad but the guy behind the project was on the Titanic so the road was never finished. Derril's dad had a dairy ranch in Pacheco. He would milk the cows by hand, his Mom would make cheese from the milk. When we would visit I got to help with the cheese making, butter churning and bottling of various fruits and vegetables. I remember sitting on the side of the stove with my hand (up to my elbow) in the tub of milk stirring until the temperature of 110 was reached. The tub was huge, maybe held 20 gallons of milk. Derril chuckles as he remembers it was the tub he use to bathe in as a kid. to be continued.....
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