Lydia Mele and Andrea Rapacz

[00:03] ANDREA RAPACZ: Hi, I'm Andrea Rapaz. I'm 48 years old. Today is Wednesday, September 1, 2021. I'm in Hartford, Connecticut, and I'm here speaking with Lydia Mealy. And Lydia and I have worked together for a number of years through my museum.

[00:20] LYDIA MEALY: Hi, I'm Lydia mealy. I'm 75 years old. I live in East Hartford, Connecticut. I've met Andrea through the Historical Society and they recommended my family for the life story for the StoryCorps.

[00:39] ANDREA RAPACZ: Great. And I'm so glad to be talking to Lydia about this today because I remember even, gosh, it's been over 20 years now. I think I even met your mother on a project. She worked here at the Connecticut Historical Society. And then I got to meet you a few years ago while you donated some objects that related to her. So I'm really glad that we have this opportunity to talk again.

[00:57] LYDIA MEALY: So am I.

[00:59] ANDREA RAPACZ: Great. So I want to just basically ask you. So can you tell me a little bit about your family and how it first came to the United States?

[01:06] LYDIA MEALY: Yeah. Well, the story began with two Italian immigrants who came here in the early 1900s. My parents, grandparents met each other in Vermont. My grandfather worked in the wool mills there. And my grandmother came with her father, who was an entrepreneur and thought he could make a lot of money here in the United States. My grandfather was illiterate. My grandmother was very educated for her time, and so there was a world of difference between them. And they eloped because my grandfather would not approve of the marriage. So they married. Unfortunately, they were divorced during the Depression. And that had a tremendous impact on my dad and his three siblings during the greatest economic hardship of our century, which was the Depression. But they overcame hardship and loss and produced three children and grandchildren who were able to realize the American dream by becoming educated and successful. My dad joined the Merchant Marines in his early teens because, you know, the breakup of his family and he was shipped to Puerto Rico. He first served my mother, Olga, when he and his sergeant took the wrong bus and ended up at the end of the bus line in front of my grandmother's restaurant. My grandmother was a fabulous cook and used that skill to support her 10 children when my. My maternal grandfather died during the Depression and left her with 10 children. And she had split up her children initially among family members until she found out that she was eligible for a very small pension because my grandfather fought in the Spanish American War for the Americans. And the residence was on the second floor of the restaurant. And when my father got up off the bus, he looked up and said he saw my mother. And he often tells the story that it was just love at first sight. And he looked up at her and said, hey, baby. And she snubbed him. And it wasn't until. It was not something you said to a proper Puerto Rican lady during that time. And so he went into the restaurant and he encountered my uncle, who was the bartender, and he said, who is that beautiful woman on the balcony? And my uncle responded by saying, that's my sister, and I suggest you drink your beer and get back on the bus. And that's how our story started.

[03:52] ANDREA RAPACZ: What year was that? Do you remember?

[03:53] LYDIA MEALY: That was in. Let's see. I think that was in 1938 that he went to Puerto Rico.

[04:00] ANDREA RAPACZ: Wow. Interesting. And it was also pretty interesting that both of your families had such, like, during the Depression, had such big things have. Like, both sides of the family was very impacted by the Depression.

[04:13] LYDIA MEALY: Yeah. My grandmother. My grandmother Ramona was an incredibly strong woman to be able to support 10 kids during the Depression.

[04:22] ANDREA RAPACZ: Wow. Yeah.

[04:22] LYDIA MEALY: That's amazing. And my fraternal grandmother was able to keep the farm, the 10 acres. My grandfather bought the 10 acres. 10 acres. And they. He gave that to them in divorce. And she was able to support her kids.

[04:39] ANDREA RAPACZ: That's great. Well, can you tell me a little bit about your parents and their love story and kind of the effects it had on the community?

[04:46] LYDIA MEALY: Well, it's a. It's a very wonderful, romantic love story and kind of touching. Dad and Sargent were invited to a house party by a teacher who was a good friend of my mother's. And as soon as he entered the house, he recognized that that was the beautiful woman on the balcony that he had seen. And he asked her to dance. She refused until she was properly introduced. During the dance, he found out all the information he needed to pursue and pursued her until she married him. And he pursued her. He didn't give up. He jumped balconies to go see her. One time he jumped a couple of balconies, landed in front of my grandmother, and she chased him down the stairs with a broom. My mother had to quit school to help support her family. And she was working at the Board of Education and going to school at night. And my. Often. My mother, often, looking back, always said that she felt it was her destiny to come to the United States. And I guess she felt that early on, you know, she left a warm, loving family, a tropical environment to come to the cold of Vermont in the middle of winter. And nobody spoke Spanish. So, you know, it was hard for her at first, but she learned Italian and she spoke. She was pretty fluent in English.

[06:20] ANDREA RAPACZ: Did she learn English from your father?

[06:22] LYDIA MEALY: No, no, no. Because she worked at the Board of Education in the early years in Puerto Rico. All the books and all the education was in English once it became, you know, a Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. So, you know, my maternal grandmother was not happy that mom was leaving her family, and she refused to go to the wedding. But later my dad became her favorite son in law, which is really funny. My dad had a charming, engaging wit and sense of humor and always telling the truth with his. In a humorous way. And that kind of engaged everybody. He always said my mother was his salvation. So in 1940, when they married, that began my mother's destiny in the United States.

[07:14] ANDREA RAPACZ: That's great. Well, it also feels like a little bit when he saw her both from the balcony and then had that chance meeting later, that that was all kind of like, meant to be as well. It's all part of the.

[07:24] LYDIA MEALY: Yeah.

[07:25] ANDREA RAPACZ: It was fake that those events happened all kind of together. That's great. That's really great.

[07:32] LYDIA MEALY: And go ahead. I'm sorry.

[07:34] ANDREA RAPACZ: No, go ahead.

[07:36] LYDIA MEALY: Well, my mother was a war bride. And when she first came here, she worked at Pratt Whitney and used to sew the parachutes for the soldiers. And my dad learned to trade laying hardwood floors, parquet floors, from his cousins in Massachusetts. And he used to guarantee the builder that if he didn't find a nail, if he found a nail, he didn't have to pay him. So he was really a craftsman. I come from a family of hard work, determination, and doing things right. My father had a very strong value of whatever he did, he did well.

[08:15] ANDREA RAPACZ: That's great. How did your parents get to Connecticut from Vermont? What brought them. What brought them here?

[08:21] LYDIA MEALY: Work.

[08:22] ANDREA RAPACZ: Okay.

[08:24] LYDIA MEALY: And, you know, they always went where the jobs were. And I get that. Guess that was faded, too.

[08:30] ANDREA RAPACZ: Which jobs brought them to Connecticut, do you remember?

[08:33] LYDIA MEALY: Well, I think my mother worked at Pratt Whitney, and my father was, at the time, I think he was laying hardwood floors, which, you know, there was a lot of commercial development now in, you know, in Connecticut. Okay. And a lot of the floors in the houses in Connecticut he put down.

[08:50] ANDREA RAPACZ: Great.

[08:52] LYDIA MEALY: So my mom started helping. Well, I think they started that way. And then my mother got involved with the community in the early 50s when the first migration of Puerto Ricans came over due to Operation Bootstrap.

[09:11] ANDREA RAPACZ: Can you talk a little bit? What was Operation Bootstrap?

[09:14] LYDIA MEALY: Operation Bootstrap was, you know, a the United States attempt to industrialize The Puerto Rican economy. And so a lot of the agriculture and agrarian jobs disappeared. They closed a lot of the sugar canes. And so the migrants came to work on the tobacco fields here in Connecticut. Yes.

[09:41] ANDREA RAPACZ: Okay.

[09:44] LYDIA MEALY: So in the 50s and 60s, that's when Operation Bootstrap started. And, you know, a lot of the Puerto Rico's natural resources were not used. And mom was a trailblazer who found and provided jobs for people because she didn't want them to be married to the tobacco fields. She felt with education and job, you know, providing jobs and learning English for them, they could have a better life.

[10:21] ANDREA RAPACZ: That's great. So before we kind of move on a little bit, can you talk about what it was like for your mother here before the first wave of migration came? Because she sounds like she was one of the very first Puerto Rican people.

[10:35] LYDIA MEALY: Yeah, she experienced a lot of discrimination because she was Puerto Rican. I remember when we were children, my mother couldn't look for apartments. My father had to. If they found out she was Puerto Rican, they wouldn't rent to her. My mother was white. It was not an issue of color. It was an issue of. Because she was Puerto Rican.

[10:56] ANDREA RAPACZ: Right, right. Interesting. Because also at that time, there was a pretty vibrant Italian community in Hartford. So. I know you said your father was Italian. Did he get involved in the Italian community at all?

[11:09] LYDIA MEALY: No. You know, my mother was an incredible influence. He got totally enmeshed in the Puerto Rican community. And, you know, he worked in. I mean, he learned Spanish. My mother started working with the first migrants from Sacred Heart Church in the North End and St. Peter's in the South End. And she and Father Cooney and Nilda Ortiz established the San Juan center. And she helped Maria Sanchez when she first came to Puerto Rico and registered her to vote. My mother became Maria's mentor. But these are the first migrants that came over that really made a difference. And my father got very enmeshed in that community, and he was very, very involved in helping people. And he had many compadres, which were people, you know, that he baptized their children, which was a great honor, and Puerto Rican community. And he had more. He had more. He gathered more grandchildren than I can count or remember. And so did I. So. And they. She. My mother was quite a force when she first came here. And she would go knocking door to door on 99 Main street in the south end and park street and see what. What people needed. And it started with the church. It started with Sacred Heart in the North End, and she established the San Juan center with Father Cooney and Nilda Ortiz, which eventually became the San Juan, the first social service center for the Hispanic community.

[12:51] ANDREA RAPACZ: Oh, great.

[12:55] LYDIA MEALY: But she and me and Maria were great friends because we used to go visit Maria up on the North End. And I remember when Maria first came and my mother registered her to vote and inspired her to. And Maria often said in many articles that my mother was her mentor.

[13:10] ANDREA RAPACZ: Oh, that's great. Can you say a little bit more about Maria Sanchez and who she was?

[13:15] LYDIA MEALY: Well, she was a very nice woman. I mean, she really cared about people and she admired my mother, and my mother just coaxed her and was instrumental in getting her into politics because my mother worked with Kevin and Joseph Kenney. They were attorneys in Connecticut who really were interested in social service and helping the Hispanic community. Joe Kenney's wife, Pat Kenney, was a freelance reporter for the Hartford Times and the Hartford Courant. And my mother and them became fast friends, and they were very much involved in Connecticut politics. They wanted my mother to run, but she didn't want to. She said that? No, she said her mission was to help people find jobs and get a better life. She didn't want to get involved in politics, but she encouraged and helped Maria do that. Oh, that's great. Because Kevin Kenney's wife was already on the Board of Education and was instrumental in getting Maria on the Board of Education, which started her career in politics.

[14:26] ANDREA RAPACZ: Sure. Was she the first Puerto Rican person to be on the Board of Education or.

[14:32] LYDIA MEALY: Yes, I think yes, she was. And my mother never got involved, got involved, you know, directly with politics, but she would get the votes for the people to be elected. She was the go to person.

[14:48] ANDREA RAPACZ: She knew how important it all was.

[14:51] LYDIA MEALY: Yeah, she always thought that, you know, in order to succeed, the Puerto Ricans had to have a voice, a political voice. And although she didn't want to be that politician, she helped do that.

[15:02] ANDREA RAPACZ: Great. Did she also. I know you said she helped get people to get their votes. Did she also help people register to vote as well?

[15:08] LYDIA MEALY: Oh, yes, she was a dynamic register of voters. But, you know, her main mission was to help people find jobs, get educated, and empower them to help themselves and achieve a better life in this country. Education was paramount in her book, and she inspired that in me. She had to leave school to help support her family, but continued her education here, took workshops, offered, taught homemaking, nutrition, and took every workshop in addiction and then ran workshops herself for the Community Renewal Team. She was really the go to person in the community. And when she died, the Hartford Curt Headline was Matriarch of the Puerto Rican community dies. And St. Peter's Church, where she chose to be waked, was filled with people from two and three generations of the people she helped that paid their respects. It was late in the night when we quote, well, after calling hours, when we had to close the doors.

[16:18] ANDREA RAPACZ: What year did your mom die?

[16:21] LYDIA MEALY: 2003. She became an expert job developer at the CUNY Newell team and would take migrants to employers and shadow them until they learned the job and those Puerto Ricans were able to teach others the job. Dad worked in the state prison. He was a deputy sheriff for a while and went to work for the state as a family relations officer. He made it his mission to make sure fathers supported their children. He was tough and would tell any father who tried to shrink their responsibility. You brought this child into the world and it's your responsibility to take care of them. His bilingual ability was an asset in working with the Puerto Rican community. And, you know, his experience in law enforcement and the prison system and, you know, it was. Was helpful, sure.

[17:15] ANDREA RAPACZ: So how did he find his way into that position? Do you know? Because, like you said, he started out by laying floors. So how did he get into.

[17:26] LYDIA MEALY: Well, you know, because of my mother's community activism.

[17:29] ANDREA RAPACZ: Okay, great.

[17:32] LYDIA MEALY: You know, she. She was. She was a little, tiny, little tiny mom, but a powerhouse. And she had such a way of influencing people with just her love and caring that it sparked that same feeling in other people. And she got such a good reputation with the employers if they would take anybody she brought and she would pile people in her car, feeding them, preparing for the job interviews, and say, if they ask you if you can do this, say yes. If they ask you if you can do that, just say yes. And her motto was, se puede. It can be done. You can do it. And mom inspired everyone to reach their highest potential, including me. She worked with the principal at Harford High to expand the adult education classes for Puerto Ricans and migrants to learn English. It was there when she. I was there when she did those things. My father followed her into families in Charter oak Terrace, or 99 Main Street, Park street in the early days. And that's where he got all those compadres. You know, the phone was ringing off the hook 24, 7. I know when I would call, my father had a great sense of humor. He would answer the phone and say, this is all gameely answering service. And, you know, his greatest contribution was to allow my mother to do her own thing, even at the expense of not having her around all the time, which was very important to him and which he really missed. He did it because it made her happy. And she spent 65 years helping all of the Hispanic community, not just Puerto Ricans. She helped anyone in need. She didn't care what color, what nationality. Mom saw everyone as God's children she lived by. We were put here on this earth to help each other. She was the recipient of many awards, you know, the Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Garde Award from the black community. And she received a distinguished service award from President Carter. And she was the first woman to win the Bartolome de las Casas Award and a medal from Pope John 2 for her work with the poor. You know, her apartment was filled. All the walls were filled with accolades, but that didn't mean anything to her. And I think that's evidenced by what she said when she received the Jefferson Award. She said, give and give freely. For I am living proof that in giving, you receive, if not in accolades, but in the sheer joy of helping someone help themselves.

[20:21] ANDREA RAPACZ: She sounds like a very, very amazing woman. So I'm really glad that you're telling us about her. About.

[20:27] LYDIA MEALY: Yeah, she was. And she, you know, that statement touches my heart because she lived it and that way, and she inspired that in me when I worked with my clientele, you know, I was a counselor, social worker and a teacher, and she gave me that inspiration to pass on to them.

[20:53] ANDREA RAPACZ: Oh, that's wonderful. That's really wonderful. So can you tell me a little bit more about, you know, your family's legacy and, you know, how their contributions have not just affected you, but your immediate family.

[21:08] LYDIA MEALY: It's funny that two immigrants from Italy would land in the United States and start the root. And they overcame hardship, they overcame war, they overcame loss, they overcame economic disaster. But through that all, they never gave up. Mom modeling, never losing sight that we were here not. I think her greatest contribution and her greatest impression on me was not to judge each other, but to help each other. And she never judged anyone. She only. She was only there to help. And my immigrant parent, they produced four children. My dad was considered the black sheep of the family because he went with his father. But he would marry this little half pint, beautiful Puerto Rican girl who was a dynamo of service to others, would leave her imprint and legacy not only on Connecticut, but Puerto Rico, but also on her children and grandchildren. My parents, union love, you know, that they produced children and grandchildren who were given the model of service to others and unconditional love. And that's very important. My brother John graduated from Yukon and joined the ROTC in college. He fought in Korea and he did two tours in Vietnam. Could you get me Kleenex, please? Excuse me, I just had some tears that I have to wipe away.

[22:47] ANDREA RAPACZ: Of course, of course.

[22:54] LYDIA MEALY: He did two tours in Vietnam and was a Bronze Star recipient. He married his high school sweetheart, Judy McCourt, and Judy didn't want to go back for a third tour in Vietnam, but sadly, she died of breast cancer in the late 40s. He stayed in the reserves and retired as a lieutenant colonel. And he worked for travelers for 28 years. And he had three beautiful children. And, you know, this is where the legacy is of the grandparents, his daughter Lisa. I mean, my grandfather was illiterate. My grandmother only had an 8th grade education, but yet produced a generation of, you know, My brother's daughter Lisa, who is a graduate of Providence College, made the Dean's list, and a graduate of Catholic University law School in 1994. I mean, overcoming the loss of her mother that same year. She's a member of the bar of both Massachusetts and Rhode island, and she's the recipient of an America Jewish Prudence Award. She did internships with the Supreme Court, the Connecticut Attorney General's Office and Supreme Court in Connecticut and the District of Columbia and the U.S. house of Representatives. She's married to Walter and has three beautiful children, Jack, Chris and Julian. Jack is now at Gettysburg College and he wants to be a teacher, a history teacher. My brother's daughter Sarah became an intensive care nurse and won the Nightingale Award and volunteered her time to other countries where medical need was needed and brought her daughter along with her, so gave her that kind of example. She presently lives in New Mexico where she's a pediatric physician's assistant. Laura is an arborist, a lover of nature, and has been featured in Arbor Magazine. She is married, adopted a child from Russia who spent the first year of his life in a crib. She mortgaged her home to get him out of Russia. He is in middle school doing well and thriving and under the. Under her care and love. And Laura works with Harvard University and does all the landscaping. And, you know, my mother inspired me and all of us and her grandchildren and the migrants that she worked with from different countries, migrants and immigrants, to realize the sepueda. It can be done. You can do it. And that is evidenced in the legacy of her children and grandchildren. She taught me everything was possible with hard work, determination. And my dad inspired me with his value of hard work and determination, honesty, sound values, how to be a good friend. Without expecting anything in return. He used to loan people money. Never, never got money back. I used to be amazed at that they would help me overcome medical challenges. Dad thought I didn't need to go to college, that I would just get married and have children. But my father. My mother said, don't listen to your father. My parents couldn't afford to send me to college. Mom encouraged me to pursue an education. See, you can win the lottery and lose it all, but no one can take your education away from you. You will always be able to survive. So with her, with her support, I worked full time, went to school full time, and worked my way through a small private university I wanted to go to, and eventually three master's degrees, one in English and in Glisten, another in counseling, and another in social work. When I graduated from college, my father said, well, we couldn't pay your way to your tuition through college, but you can live at home rent free until you pay your college loans, which amounted to about a small mortgage. I chose to go to the University of Hartford, which is very expensive private school. Back then, it took me seven years living at home to pay back my college loans. And then I ventured out on my own my junior year in college. My Italian grandfather came to live with us until he died of cancer. All he got was Social Security. He often told me he was proud of his kids, even the ones that didn't talk to him after the divorce. He was proud of his son Joe, who became a civil engineer. He was proud of his daughter Mary, who became a teacher and married an economics professor, and his son Anthony. My grandmother had to send to Italy to be brought up by her parents during the Depression. He was proud of his son John, who overcame a broken home, married a wonderful. My grandfather adored my mother. And though my dad and mom were public servants and didn't have a lot of money, they were happier than some of my dad's siblings, who, because of what they experienced, the hardship or the depression, they focused more on the material of the economic of life. And they were well educated and were very good in the stock market and became very wealthy. But my father was, I think, happier than they were in a lot of ways, Even though he didn't have that, you know, economic advantage, and he didn't have, you know, a lot of the education that he had. So both of them were role models who still did me hard work and values and determination and service to others. And my parents did the same. But instead of becoming bitter for their hardships, they endured and they helped and Inspire others. That was modeled for my brother and I. My prayer is that my mother and father's legacy of the Mealy family we passed on to the future generations. My mother disliked injustice, fought for the underdog, and taught me to do the same. My dad shared that same value. I mean. I mean, he did that in the prisons and when he was deputy sheriff and, you know, and when he was a family relations officer. You know, mom had the wonderful ability to focus on people's talents and potential and not on their shortcomings. Mom was my role model in my career as a social workers counselor. She was a model and guide in my career in teaching. She. Her leg, her. That was the legacy and gift she gave me. I asked her once if she ever felt that like, people took advantage of her. Reply to me was, if they take advantage of me, that's between them and God. My purpose in life is to help them. My dad used to worry about her filling the car with so many people. And he used to say, oh, Olga, what if there's an accident? And she said, don't worry, John. I'm doing God's work. He protects me, he protects them. Nothing will ever happen. And in 65 years, nothing ever happened. And when you think that she used to be stopped by the same policeman who knew her route, and he would order everybody out of the car, and it looked like a clown car, and he was amazed at how many people she could stuff in there. And she would say to him, but, officer, I know these people need jobs, and I know where the jobs are, and I don't have the heart to leave anybody behind. And he would just hand her the ticket.

[30:24] ANDREA RAPACZ: She did what she had to do. Right?

[30:27] LYDIA MEALY: She did what she had to do. And, you know, my father. You have to give my father credit. My father allowed her to do it. You know what I mean? He, you know, he took the chance of getting sued if there was an accident. I mean, you know, the community enrolled, didn't pay the insurance. I mean, my mother actually, my mother never even got a pension. She died living on Social Security for all the work she did for the community.

[30:53] ANDREA RAPACZ: Sure.

[30:54] LYDIA MEALY: So she really was a perfect. A public servant and, you know, every sense of the word.

[31:01] ANDREA RAPACZ: Sure. So you talk about how your mom has inspired a lot of people. Do you have a sense of what inspired her to be a community servant?

[31:10] LYDIA MEALY: Yes, my grandmother.

[31:11] ANDREA RAPACZ: Okay.

[31:12] LYDIA MEALY: My grandmother was an incredible woman. Can you imagine? She was in her early, what, 30s, I think, because she was married young when she was left with 10 kids during the Depression.

[31:25] ANDREA RAPACZ: Right.

[31:25] LYDIA MEALY: So she used to. She had to figure out a way, because she was penniless, how to do that. She had to separate her kids for a while with their relatives, and then. But she was a fabulous cook. You'd call her a gourmet cook in this day and age. She started cooking for the judges and the policemen. And my mother had to leave school, and my sisters had. My aunts had to leave school to help support 10 children. But she gave my mother those values because my mom. Remember my mother telling the story that, you know, whenever they had a meal, she would make them put a little bit aside on their plate, and she would collect it for anybody coming by during the Depression who was hungry.

[32:09] ANDREA RAPACZ: Oh, wow. So was this happening in Puerto Rico or was this.

[32:13] LYDIA MEALY: Yeah, the Depression happened in Puerto Rico as well as the United States, because. Yeah, they were commonwealth. The United States so impacted Puerto Rico.

[32:20] ANDREA RAPACZ: Of course. Yes.

[32:21] LYDIA MEALY: And, you know, it's. My grandmother was a very, very incredible woman. She was. You should see some of her crochet work, some of the pieces I still have. And she had a good heart, very big heart, and she passed that on to her children. My uncle had a big heart, and, you know, he would. He would cook a big paella in a big pit, and everybody would be invited. And, you know, and my aunts Sonia and Lydia were florists in Puerto Rico, but were never really wealthy because a lot of things they did for free or that, you know, they. They had that value. My grandmother, you know, put the seed of that value in my mother and her and her. Her siblings.

[33:10] ANDREA RAPACZ: That's great. Is your mother the only one who moved to the United States, or did you know your grandmother?

[33:15] LYDIA MEALY: No, my uncles, my uncle. Well, my uncles all fought in the war.

[33:20] ANDREA RAPACZ: Oh, okay.

[33:20] LYDIA MEALY: World War II. And my uncle Ricky came to the United States, and he worked for Pratt and Whitney, and he married a Cuban refugee. And my other uncles, my Uncle Peppo, living in New York. And, you know, a few of them came here, but most of them stayed in Puerto Rico. Okay, well, you know, both my aunts had the florist. My Aunt Lydia had the first florist business in Puerto Rico.

[33:51] ANDREA RAPACZ: Oh, wow. Interesting.

[33:56] LYDIA MEALY: They were both florists.

[34:04] ANDREA RAPACZ: So I did have a couple other questions about your mom, if you have. I know.

[34:08] LYDIA MEALY: Go ahead.

[34:10] ANDREA RAPACZ: So I know you mentioned the San Juan center and getting English and Spanish classes for people, but is it true your mother started the bilingual program in the Hartford schools, or she was really instrumental in the curriculum?

[34:24] LYDIA MEALY: Well, she was. She worked with the. Yeah, she worked with the Bilingual program. I don't know if she started it, but. But she, she. I remember as a little kid her dragging me along to Hartford High, ticking, talking to the principal to get English class classes for the migrants that I remember vividly. My mother was involved in everything in the community in Puerto Rico because she was the first. She was the trailblazer. She started everything and everybody came to her. I mean, you know, she was Maria's mentor. She was mentor. She and Juan Fuentes were great friends. They worked with Maria. The three of them worked together on the first Puerto Rican parade.

[35:02] ANDREA RAPACZ: Oh, great.

[35:03] LYDIA MEALY: And what year was that?

[35:04] ANDREA RAPACZ: The first Puerto Rican parade?

[35:05] LYDIA MEALY: Do you remember? Oh, God, I don't remember.

[35:08] ANDREA RAPACZ: 50S, 60s.

[35:09] LYDIA MEALY: It was 60s, I think. Yeah, the 60s. And it was late 60s, if I remember right. And I know I have a picture of me on a float in that parade. My mother made. My mother was a wonderful seamstress. And she made me this beautiful black flamenco dress with the ruffles in white and organdy and black velvet. And actually, you remember the headset that I gave the historical society that was mother of pearl. And I still have my grandmother's mantilla that I wanted to get to you. But my mother was. She had so many talents. It was just incredible. And she was a fast learner and, you know, she was a go getter. I mean, she was like the Puerto Rican little Energizer battery. My father couldn't keep up with her.

[36:08] ANDREA RAPACZ: Sure.

[36:09] LYDIA MEALY: He really couldn't keep up with her. Yeah. And. But she was just devoted. And later in life, my father just gave. He said, I can't keep up with you. He wanted to retire and relax. And she kept going because she died at age 86. And when I cleaned out her room, they were 10. 10 or 12, I mean, tall. We couldn't figure out what those boxes were. And she wouldn't let anybody touch them. And they're all files of people. She had a social service agency. Her bedroom.

[36:46] ANDREA RAPACZ: Interesting. Yep.

[36:47] LYDIA MEALY: Okay, so the last note, I saw it on her bed stand. She. She ran the Laraby Fund, you know, for women.

[36:55] ANDREA RAPACZ: I'm. I'm not familiar with that. What is the lar?

[36:57] LYDIA MEALY: It's a charitable fund for women. So if they. They can't get apartments or, you know, the. The. She would get the Larry Be Fund to donate, but she would donate money. And the last thing I saw on her nightstand was names of people that she was helping to get apartments, money. You know, she worked until the day she died. And actually the Cuban refugee who did her eulogy said that she was nonstoppable and that she gave them all. And he became. He was a. He became. He came here and was a college graduate and very articulate in his. In his eulogy, and he said she was unstoppable. Nothing could not. Could. Nothing could deter her. And she. And. And she said the. He mentioned the se puede that any. And he. She inspired everything, including me. You can overcome anything and do anything you want with enough determination and hard work.

[37:59] ANDREA RAPACZ: That's an amazing lesson. Father and mother to grow up with.

[38:04] LYDIA MEALY: Well, you know, to couple that with her love of humanity and her will. Her. Her determination to help everyone she came in contact, no matter what color, creed, shape, she didn't care.

[38:21] ANDREA RAPACZ: Yes. And that she was able to do it, too. That she had the resources and the connections to make it happen.

[38:27] LYDIA MEALY: Well, she developed those resources. I think that's the most important thing about my mother, was that she. She developed all the resources for the people who came behind her.

[38:38] ANDREA RAPACZ: That's amazing. That's amazing. Great. Well, is there. I know we're really winding down now. Are there any other last stories you want to share with us before we. Before our time is up?

[38:52] LYDIA MEALY: Well, you know, my mother was very religious, and I think she was very honored by the fact that the Pope, John 2, who's now a saint, gave her a medal for her work with the poor. She was proud of that. She was a minister of the Eucharist, too. And she used to. And she used to. With all this other stuff she was doing. Every Sunday, she would go to the senior citizens, the Hispanic, and give them communion.

[39:24] ANDREA RAPACZ: That's great. Excellent.

[39:25] LYDIA MEALY: Or if they needed communion, even if it wasn't on Sunday. I mean, you know, my father's phone rang 24 7. Literally. There was no office hours from my mother.

[39:37] ANDREA RAPACZ: Sure.

[39:38] LYDIA MEALY: And that. That was even said in her eulogy. I had no officer, and everyone knew that.

[39:44] ANDREA RAPACZ: Wonderful. Wonderful. Well, thank you so much, Lydia for taking the time to talk to us about your mother. And I really appreciate it.

[39:51] LYDIA MEALY: Well, thank you for the honor of giving me that opportunity, because I think it's an important story. So, you know, I guess the message is that from two immigrants and one migrant, all this unfolded. Amazing.

[40:06] ANDREA RAPACZ: Thank you.

[40:07] LYDIA MEALY: You're welcome. Thank.