My mother was born on March 30, 1942 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands) and was baptized in the church of La Concepción in that city. Her parents were Jesús Curiá Cabra, born in San Sebastián and Clemencia Martínez-Alayón Guerra, born in Tenerife. Her godfather was her grandfather, the Valencian veterinarian Severo Curiá Martínez. He made his first communion in 1949 at the age of 7 at the Pureza de María school, where he was confirmed in 1952 at the age of 10, his older brother Ángel being his confirmation godfather. After the eldest, came her brother Néstor and, younger than her, Jesús and Carlos.
In 1958 he finished high school at the Pureza de María school. In the conservatory of Santa Cruz de Tenerife he studied music theory, aesthetics, music history and up to the 6th year of piano (he did not finish the 7th and 8th years because his father encouraged him to go abroad to learn languages). He spent the academic year 1959/1960 in France, studying French and French literature at the "Cours Albert le Grand" of the Dominican Sisters of Bordeaux. From 1960 to 1962 he studied Secretarial Studies at St. Godric's College (Hamstead, London). There he also obtained the "Lower Certificate in English" and the "London Chambers of Commerce".
For a year he worked in Tenerife in the shipping company Cory, a job he left to move to Madrid. Once in Madrid, he worked for a year in the English company Fertiberia. In 1964 he obtained the "Proficiency" in English at the British Institute and in 1966 he took a course at the Official School of Languages in Madrid. During those years she also studied international shorthand in English, French and Spanish at the Samper Academy in Madrid. From 1966 to 1968 she worked as a management secretary at the British-Dutch company Unilever.
Vocation
In 1966 she applied for admission as a supernumerary of Opus Dei to the Alcor Hall of Residence in Madrid, which she got to know thanks to a former neighbor from Tenerife who invited her to visit it on one occasion. During Holy Week of that year she went to Rome with other young women of her age and was able to meet personally St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, who received her and her friend Ana Rodríguez Corazón in a living room of Villa Tevere, the central headquarters of Opus Dei in Rome. These events would have a decisive importance in the deep Christian convictions that she transmitted to her entire family.
In March 1966 she met Ángel María Leyra Faraldo (Ferrol, 25-II-1938 - 27-VIII-2021) at a party. Ángel noticed her and asked for her phone number so he could call her. After two years of courtship, they would marry in the Pontifical Basilica of San Miguel on August 10, 1968 and would travel in her Seat 600 on their honeymoon to Catalonia. In the monastery of Montserrat they promised the Virgin that they would give that name to their first daughter, as they did a year later. Before having their first daughter, Montse, who would become a doctor in Classical and Semitic Philology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, taught English for a year at the Besana School. In 1970 his son Miguel Angel was born, who would become a philosopher, doctor in theology and ordained priest in 2000. In 1972 his daughter María José was born, a graduate in Business Administration and currently married with a daughter.
English Philology
In 1972 she moved to La Laguna because her husband was assigned to the Universidad Laboral de la Laguna. There her children Ana Isabel (1974, graduated in Teaching, currently married and with two children), María Luisa (1976-2014, graduated in Law, married and mother of four children) and Pablo (1976), who died a week after birth due to complications in childbirth, were born. In 1974 she passed the university entrance exams for those over 25 years of age at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of La Laguna to begin her first year of English Philology, studies that she had to interrupt because she could not combine them with the attention she wanted to give to her already large family. In 1978 the whole family moved to Madrid. In 1980 his last son, Santiago, doctor in Law and university professor, was born.
In 1985/1986 she took a course in English Literature at the British Institute and in 1987 she took a course in English Teaching Techniques at the British Council. For years she gave private English lessons to students between 13 and 18 years of age and worked as a translator and transcriber.
Tribute to the delivery
Nowadays it is difficult for many fathers or mothers -because of the way contemporary society has been configured- to allow themselves to give up their professional careers to devote themselves to the care and education of their children, those who decide to bet on life against the "generous" opinion of many that there are too many of us on this planet. There is now more talk of achieving the so-called "work-family balance", which does not seem to be going too well judging by family health indices at least in the West.
At present, my mother is living in her usual house in Mirasierra as she enters old age, widowed, surrounded and cared for by her children, whom we love and admire very much. These simple lines want to be a well-deserved tribute to her and to the millions of women -more numerous than men, although there have also been men- who throughout history and also today have freely decided to sacrifice in part or totally their professional career and their possible personal brilliance to dedicate themselves to their children and their family, being truly happy living a true love: giving their lives for others and reaping the abundant fruits of their dedication, as Jesus Christ taught us from the luminous mystery of the Cross. Thank you very much, Mom.
