Abuelos Out in the rural areas when we were children, during Christmas time they used to scare us with the Abuelos. And the noise that the Abuelos would make, "wwwwooooooo", remained in our minds. The houses in those days weren't built like they are today. They had leaks. Wind would howl when it would blow through during storms. When we were kids we were afraid of the noise on account of we connected the noise with the Abuelos. And we thought that it was them making that noise. Our parents would say, "Don't be afraid. It's not the Abuelos that are making that noise. It's La Llorona. She's looking for her child. And she's crying." That's what we connected La Llorona with--trying to put us at ease and not be afraid of the noise we would hear from the wind. That noise was nothing to be scared of. Instead we would feel sorry for La Llorona that was looking for her lost child, going up one side of the river and up the other side. One thing I have never heard is how the child ever fell into the river.

Interview with: John Quintana Copyright 2001