Although sisters Carmencristina Moreno and Rosemary Selzer were born 14 years apart, they both have vivid memories of growing up surrounded by music.
Their dad was very fond of music and there was always music in the house. Dad composed his own songs. He would sit in the back seat of the white station wagon(旅行车)with a sheet of paper and a pencil He would say, "Well, this is the only place I can get some peace and quiet to write." Their father would write lyrics onto whatever paper he could find, however unconventional. "No blank cardboard was safe," said Carmencristina.
In the 1940s, music promoters invited their dad to tour South America. Carmencristina was a young child, and Rosemary wasn't yet born. But their dad, who was orphaned (使成孤儿) at an early age, never wanted to be away from his daughter for too long. So he refused.
When their dad had a pause in his music career, he picked up another job as a farm irrigator (农场灌溉工). He would come home with burst blisters. It must have been hard for him because he had to do what it took to feed the family.
Their father Luis died in 1974. Rosemary wondered where her dad's music career could have gone if he hadn't sold his music to support his family. "He composed approximately 300 songs in his lifetime, but he gave away the songs or sold them for $50 a song," she said. "So, I could imagine that as he got older and heard his music on the radio and all of these people getting famous, it must have been painful for him."
She asked her sister how she thought their father would want to be remembered. "Aside from being a good family man, he wanted people to know that he composed music, beautiful music," said Carmencristina.
