Mercedes’ head stone at the Santa Ana Cemetery.

Mercedes Ana Romo marries Frank Carrillo, 1920.

It is 11:45 pm here. I’m wide awake. I never have trouble sleeping. But I have my family on my mind.

Last week, I sent a request to the kind staff of the Santa Ana Cemetery. They had been good enough to send me all kinds of info on Leonardo when I requested it. Then it dawned on me that they might share info with me on the Romo family members that are buried there. Kathleen, the awesome secretary, hooked me up!

Now my brain was able to get off the hamster wheel it had been spinning on and was following up all sorts of new leads. Holy moly, Batman! I found so much stuff that I will need to rewrite or add some items to posts I’ve already written about Uncle Charlie and Tia Maria. But that’s a good thing. I always want to know the “rest of the story.”

Tonight I was thinking of Mercedes Ana Romo. She was one of Anna and David’s children. If Mercedes Romo was born in Oxnard in 1902, she knew my grandfather. They’d have been friends. It was probably more like a little girl with a baby doll. But where did she go?

Thanks to familysearch.org, I discovered that she married Frank Carrillo in 1920. They had a baby in 1921. She died in 1924 of tuberculosis. Her son Frank David Carrillo died in 1940. At 19.

Her wedding license also had an interesting fact. Elvira Barbadiero was a witness. This was probably Elvira Barbachano, Leonardo and Ana’s niece. The Romo’s and Barbachano’s were reconnecting in Orange County by 1920.

Much of my persistence is brought on by my need for “closure.” I find a comfort in knowing that for a brief moment in time she was thought of once again. Her short life was seen. Appreciated. And that was a sweet way to fall back to sleep.