For 25 years now, the descendants of the late Vicente and Margarita Quichocho have been getting together every Thanksgiving Day.
The annual event is in honor of their four daughters, Ana Q. Maratita, Presentasion Q. Taisacan, Dolores Q. De la Cruz and Agustina Q. Inos who have passed on to their children the family tradition of a Thanksgiving get-together.
With almost a hundred members in attendance, the family gathering at the Aquarius Beach yesterday showed closely knit families.
The family tree was complete and included the children of each Quichocho sister, their grandchildren and great grandchildren who were all brought up to value the importance of holding on to each other as one family.
Noel Taisacan, a former educator and one of Presentasion Q. Taisacan’s sons, said the Quichocho reunion keeps growing every year and allows the young members to know who their cousins are.
The gathering also gives them an opportunity to look at their “roots,” he said.
Noel Taisacan said he was 24 years old when he first attended the reunion in the late 1980s.
The annual reunion, he said, was started by the eldest child of each sister — David Maratita the son of Ana and Gregorio Maratita; Andresina, the daughter or Presentasion and Felix Taisacan; Pedro, the son of Dolores and Vicente Dela Cruz; and Laura, the daughter of Agustina and Emilio Inos.
These cousins, he said, got together 25 years ago and decided to do something that their descendants could continue.
They realized that since the three of the Quichocho sisters had passed away, they would have to pay tribute to Agustina Q. Inos, who was still alive then.
The last time Agustina attended the reunion was 10 years ago, Noel Taisacan said.
The annual reunion, he added, proves that there is unity in the family.
“We continue to help one another when there is a crisis in the family which shows the spirit of being one family,” he said.
Starting from a simple gathering, the reunion, he said, got bigger and better every year.
Now, he said, they always need a bigger place for all the families that will come together on Thanksgiving.
According to Noel Taisacan, they plan for the reunion ahead of time, and this allow the younger members to consult their elders before making decisions about the gathering.
“We, the younger siblings — our job is always to implement the decisions of our elder siblings,” he said.
“Every Chamorro family is closely knit and we want to maintain that. As the years go by and life becomes more complicated it’s even more prudent that families get together and continue this solidarity,” Noel Taisacan said.
David Q. Maratita, for his part, said the first reunion was held on Rota.
He said at the time, he and his cousins were young children then.
His mother and her three sisters taught them to make sure they would not become strangers to each other and that they would continue to be good to each other, Maratita said.
He recalled he was about 30 years old the first time he attended the reunion with one of the matriarchs, Agustina Q. Inos, still alive.
Not all members of their families are able to attend their annual reunion, but Maratita said it is still nice that most of members of the clan show up for the gathering.
