how i got my name.
my mom got pregnant with me when she was 40, on top of that there was a tumor on her stomach at the same time, long story short: doctors told her that the tumor was very close to me and that basically it was me or her, tumor or baby!
she decided to have me, and then she was put in a private clinic to see what they could do to save me and her.
for months she was at this clinic in the juan escutia neighborhood in iztapalapa, where i was born. they successfully took the tumor away and then i was born on april 26th.
my mom was a seamstress and did a lot of work for Liverpool and El palacio de Hierro department stores, the factory was in downtown mexico city, a good 2 hours from our house then. one of my brothers had to go stand on the main avenue and hail a taxi on the days the work had to be delivered back to the factory, literally thousands of pants or dresses. that was very stressful, because taxis refused to bring all that stuff.
at the factory, this driver with a van was in charge to deliver to us the materials and the fabric, well he became friends with my mom and said that he could help her to bring the work back to the factory as a favor to us with no charge, we just needed to not mentioned to the bosses.
my father, the jealous insecure person that he was ,claimed that they were going out and that she got pregnant with his baby, me.
lies.
and because this person was so nice to my mom, she decided to name me after him : Gerardo. before that , my dad named all my brothers and sisters, my mom did not have control over that, or any other decision .
this action, she named me, it was the start of her “rebellion”, the start of a new beginning for her, and for us. that is that when people ask me what my name means, i say: it means freedom and strength !
when i was around 6 or 7 years old, my father put his hands on my shoulder, on father’s day as i was giving him a gift, and say to me: i am not your dad, i don’t love you, do not give me any gifts anymore.
i was baptized at the mexico city’s cathedral at el zocalo.
my godfather was my mom’s boss at the French restaurant she was the chef at , next to the insurgentes movie theater by the la glorieta de insurgentes.
mr. george was born in Francia and put a restaurant in mexico, he translated his name to jorge and became a mexican citizen. my mom also learned some French, she would put me to bed and say the lords prayer and the ave maria in French, in fact i understand 70% of French, i do not speak but i can understand.
fun fact: the clinic were i was born was across the street where some of my brothers went to school, i even applied there to go to 7 grade but sadly i was not accepted .
we did not see the Gerardo person again, i dont know why. but i was greatful for him helping my mom and us and that that kind of people are associated with me.
my mom and i will visit the cathedral often, on the front steps there was this older woman asking for money, my mom will always have some spare change to give to her, but not only that, my mom will bring an apple or some cookies with her to give to this older person, mind you we were poor. and we will talk to her for 5 - 10 minutes, that was important to my mom, and she made sure i said hello and shake her hand and give a kiss on the check, that was installed in me from a very early age. have time to talk to people, we all want to be heard and seen, as people, as humans. with the respect we all deserve.
Gerardo Marciano
queer from mexico city
my name means : freedom and strength .