A Great Inspiration

      My father was not formally educated beyond the high school diploma he earned at Reedley High School in the central valley of California.   He was accepted to UC Berkeley on a scholarship but in typical "Tony" fashion he chose to hitchhike to Alaska instead.  The icy water of the Pacific and a fishing boat was his home for about six months and when he thought he had had enough of that experience he hitchhiked back to his birthplace in New Mexico.

      He was inspired by the injustices he had witnessed as a migrant agricultural worker in New Mexico and California alongside his parents and 11 siblings.  The treatment of poor country folks, especially Mexicanos, at doctor’s offices especially caught his attention because he saw how that acted as a deterrent for his own parents to seek medical attention when they were ill.  So he set out upon a mission to open a clinic in the small town of Loving, New Mexico, a perfect location so that the rural poor would not have to trek down the highway to the city of Carlsbad.  At the ripe age of 23 he opened up Clinica de la Salud, a facility with several nurses, a part-time doctor, a pharmacy, a library and an administrative center known as El Centro.

      I was born that same year - it was 1976 - so as a child running around El Centro I had no comprehension of the great accomplishment of my father.  He ran the clinic as the executive director for many years and eventually donated it to Eddy County so that he could follow his children to new places across the Southwest.  The clinic still exists today but it is not located in the prime location of Loving anymore but in the city of Carlsbad.  This is proof that the recipients of the clinic had no idea of my father’s concept of equality and accessibility for the poor folks of the countryside.

      My father worked hard to create a place where people could go to feel better free of judgment, blame and looks of disgust.  He built a clinic with passion and a sense of justice.  Many of us may feel inspired to do the same but never carry it out.   We have excuses like not having a college degree or having too much on our plate already.  These factors are reasonable hindrances to moving forward and acting selflessly for others.  But there comes a time when you must pursue what feels right.  My father, Antonio Medrano Carrasco, is an inspirational testament to the possibility of accomplishing great things with nothing more than the will to work for justice.

Carrasco Child Unsung Hero of Bastrop County Complex Fire

         Antonio Yanez Carrasco, or as he is more affectionately known among family members, Gordo, was very concerned when he read that two persons perished in the Bastrop County Complex Fire.  The day that he, his wife Martha Sarabia Carrasco and their three adorable daughters evacuated their country home in Paige, Texas, they were concerned that the SUV of their elderly neighbor was still parked out front.

         Gordo knelt down to the level of his daughter Yasmin, looked her squarely in the eyes and said, "Mija, you need to go tell the neighbor that the fire is coming and that she needs to leave now.  Do you understand me Yazmin?  This is important."

         The neighbor was an elderly woman who was obviously living in the outskirts of Bastrop, Texas because she wanted her privacy.  In the two years Gordo and the family lived in Paige they had become friendly with the other neighbors.  Tamales and fruit cakes were exchanged at Christmastime and friendly neighborhood chats ensued here and there.  But this particular elderly woman made it clear that two hellos in two years was all she was going to give.  Nevertheless, Yazmin walked over to her home, knocked on her door determined to persuade her that evacuation was not an option but a must.  As one would predict, the woman was not happy about the wretched news.  Yazmin then, just as her father had done to her, firmly looked at the woman square in the eyes and insisted that she evacuate.

        Two days later, after news that all of Gordo's neighborhood was demolished in the fire, he found out that the fire had hop-scotched his home leaving it intact except for smoke damage and a burnt trailer.  The elderly neighbor's house did not meet the same fate and was charred to a rubble of embers and ashes.  When Gordo read that two had perished in the fire and one was an elderly woman from Paige, Texas, he immediately panicked thinking that it may have been his neighbor.  He searched frantically to find the name listed in the paper.  To his relief the name was not that of his neighbor.  Though it is a tragedy that two people's lives were taken in the Bastrop County Complex Fire, he cannot help but feel proud of the firm actions of his nine-year-old daughter Yazmin.  If she had not stuck to her guns their could have been a third victim.