Family.....
Consuelo's father was Jorge Rivera Gutiérrez, who was a Non-Commissioned Officer (a mechanic) in the Chilean Air Force, then a civilian pilot and Flight Instructor and, later, he reached the rank of Commander of the Chilean Air Force, her mother was Victorina de las Mercedes Fuentes Díaz, who previously worked in the Monarch stocking factory, which still exists in Chile. Later, with the arrival of her children, she took charge of the home and family. Consuelo was her eldest daughter and had two sisters, Rosa and Nancy, and three brothers, Jorge, Juan Carlos and Rodrigo, all university professionals like her. In the early 1970s, she married Pedro Vásquez Aburto and they had two children; Christian Vásquez Rivera, who was born in Chile in 1973, and Jorge Oscar Vásquez Rivera, who was born in 1985. Jorge moved to England with Consuelo, when she moved there in 1992, and grew up in the United Kingdom. Christian married Ximena Sanhueza Santander and they have 4 children: Sebastián and Martina, and María José and Javiera, from Ximena's previous marriage. They all live in Chile. Consuelo lived in Staffordshire, England, with her partner Lynda and three dogs. Jorge and his partner Sophie live nearby.
[Español abajo]
A painting created by a friend of Ximena, showing Consuelo, Lynda and some of their animals
Un cuadro creado por una amiga de Ximena, que muestra a Consuelo, Lynda y algunos de sus animales.
Memories of childhood, from her sister Nancy: Agradecida de Mi hermana
Consuelo fue mi hermana mayor, la que me cuidaba cuando mi madre iba al centro o al cine con mi papá, la que me acompañó para llegar a darle una mala noticia a mi mamy porque me porte mal en el liceo, recuerdo que yo no quería llegar a la casa, tenía ganas de tirarme a una micro y no llegar a la casa, ella me alcanzó y me dijo “ no temas” yo hablaré con mi mamá , y fuimos juntas a contarle a mi mamy, ella le contó lo que había pasado y que debía ir al liceo porque yo estaba suspendida, pero igual me pegaron, solo una cachetada y pasó . En otra ocasión mis padres salieron y dejaron a Consuelo cuidando unos tarros de manjar que dejaron cociendo, ella como era una chiquilla se entretuvo jugando y se secó el agua y los tarros estallaron, recuerdo que fui corriendo a ver qué pasaba y el manjar chorreaba por las paredes, ahí aprovechamos de comer todo lo que estaba en las paredes, le pasábamos el dedo, en eso estábamos cuando llegaron los viejitos y nos retaron, especialmente a Consuelo por ser la mayor. Recuerdo también que mi hermana quería ser monja y mis padres no estaban de acuerdo, conversaron con ella y desistió, ella iba harto a la iglesia, sobretodo los días domingos, después cambió y dejó de creer. Algo me acuerdo de una vez que se quiso suicidar, se fue a la Laguna redonda de Lorenzo arenas, no se si se arrepintió o la encontraron antes de que lo hiciera. A mi hermana también le gustaban mucho los aviones y mi papi la llevaba al aeródromo los días domingos , a remolcar los planeadores, ahí mi papi le enseñaba, no recuerdo si alguna vez piloteo un planeador o un avión. Consuelo era muy buena para nadar, y con el Coke atravesaban la punta del lago Lanalhue, en cañete, en el sector de Peleco, era harto y profundo y, cuando llegaban al otro lado saludaban con el traje de baños en la mano, como era lejos los que estábamos del otro lado no veíamos sus cuerpos desnudos. De pequeña mi padre le pago a un profe clases de guitarra, con la mala suerte que el profe era un abusador y ella no quiso ir más y después aprendió por su cuenta. Recuerdo que yo tb quise aprender y ella me dijo, “ yo te enseñaré una que es muy fácil, la tonada yo vendo unos ojos negros,” y la aprendí de ella y nunca se me ha olvidado. Recuerdo cuando dimos la Prueba de Aptitud Académica, nos toco juntas en la misma sala y nos sentaron juntas, estábamos dando la prueba, yo tenía 17 años y la Consuelo 22, y a mi me vino un lapsus y le pregunté “ consuelo cuánto es 30 x0” y ella me respondió “ 0 pus pava “ tenía pegada la palabra pava” jejeje. Y nunca se me ha olvidado. Cuando entre a Tecnología médica, tenía química y yo había tenido poco esa asignatura en el liceo y, cómo ella antes de entrar a estudiar pedagogía en inglés estudio 3 años química y farmacia, me enseñó química y me fue muy bien con sus enseñanzas
Consuelo was my older sister, the one who took care of me when my mother went to the center or to the movies with my dad, the one who accompanied me to give bad news to my mom because I behaved badly at school, I remember that I didn't want to get home, I wanted to jump into a bus and not get home, she caught up with me and told me “don't be afraid,” I'll talk to my mom, and we went together to tell my mom, she told her what had happened. past and that I had to go to high school because I was suspended, but they still hit me, just a slap and it happened. On another occasion my parents went out and left Consuelo taking care of some jars of delicacy that they left cooking. Since she was a little girl, she entertained herself by playing and the water dried up and the jars burst. I remember that I ran to see what was happening and the delicacy was dripping down. the walls, there we took advantage of eating everything that was on the walls, using our fingers, that's what we were doing when the old people arrived and challenged us, especially Consuelo for being the oldest. I also remember that my sister wanted to be a nun and my parents did not agree, they talked to her and she gave up, she went to church a lot, especially on Sundays, then she changed and stopped believing. I remember something about a time when she wanted to commit suicide, she went to the Round Lagoon of Lorenzo Arenas, I don't know if she repented or they found her before she did it. My sister also really liked airplanes and my dad took her to the airfield on Sundays to tow the gliders, there my dad taught her, I don't remember if she ever flew a glider or an airplane. Consuelo was very good at swimming, and with Coke [their brother] they crossed the tip of Lake Lanalhue, in a canoe, in the Peleco sector, it was quite deep and, when they reached the other side, they would greet with their bathing suits in their hands, as it was far away, those of us on the other side did not see their naked bodies. When I was little, my father paid a teacher for guitar lessons, with bad luck that the teacher was an abuser and she didn't want to go anymore and later she learned on her own. I remember that I also wanted to learn from her and she told me, “I will teach you one that is very easy, the tune I call black eyes,” and I learned it from her and I have never forgotten it. I remember when we took the Academic Aptitude Test, we were together in the same room and they sat us together, we were taking the test, I was 17 years old and Consuelo was 22, and I had a lapse and I asked her “Consuelo, how much is 30 x0?” and she replied “0 pus pava“ the word pava [kettle] was stuck on it, hehehe. And she has never forgotten me. When she entered Medical Technology, she had chemistry and I had had little of that subject in high school and, before starting to study pedagogy in English, she studied chemistry and pharmacy for 3 years, she taught me chemistry and I did very well with her teachings.
And from her brother Jorge ("Coke")
Yo era un año mayor que Nancy y me acordaba de cosas que costaba mucho que los demás creyeran, pero fueron sucesos que efectivamente ocurrieron. En una oportunidad estaba en un triciclo en la casa de nuestra abuela paterna, en La Cisterna calle Los morros y me dirigía raudamente a mis 3 o 4 años, hacia la puerta donde estaba mi meta , y la Consuelo jugaba con sus amigas y tenía en ese entonces unos 7 u ocho años y al parecer estaba de cumpleaños y su reacción fue de molestia jeje porque las pase a llevar. Recuerdo con mucha nitidez la vez que se quiso suicidar, la convencí de que no lo hiciera. Tenía muchas contradicciones y le costó mucho superarlas , nuestra sociedad y el mundo en general estaba recién despertando y es sabido que nacimos en una época en que los años transcurrían lentamente y los cambios o las revoluciones eran muy marcados. En su lado lúdico era muy competitiva y, jugábamos brisca con nuestros padres y, al final jugábamos Scrable en línea , era entretenido.
I was a year older than Nancy and I remembered things that were hard for others to believe, but they were events that actually happened. On one occasion I was on a tricycle at our paternal grandmother's house, in La Cisterna, Los Morros street, and I was heading quickly at my 3 or 4 years old, towards the door where my goal was, and Consuelo was playing with her friends and at that time she was about 7 or 8 years old and apparently it was her birthday and her reaction was of annoyance hehe because I took them there. I remember very clearly the time she wanted to commit suicide, I convinced her not to do it. She had many contradictions and it took her a lot to overcome them, our society and the world in general was just waking up and it is known that we were born in a time when the years passed slowly and the changes or revolutions were very marked. In its playful side it was very competitive and, we played brisca with our parents and, at the end we played Scrabble online , it was entertaining.
And recollections from her life by her brother Juan Carlos
Juan Carlos memories: in English
I have several events, first of all, on that occasion it was our first year in the countryside in Cañete 1970, Consuelo was learning to drive and since she was daring, one day she thought she had enough knowledge to drive and she put the car in first gear and continued accelerating. and she apparently forgot where the brake was and finally fell into a ditch, without any major complications for her and for all of us who had to escape to avoid being run over. In the end it didn't happen to adults but my dad got very angry because the car had problems.
Audio 2 (rough translation): I also remember that it was 1972, during the government of Allende in the times of the Cold War. My dad was sent on a mission to Miami. And at that time I remember that American denim in Chile did not exist or was very expensive, it was only for certain economic strata. We used non-American denim, which was only for young people. Then my dad brought back denim for all the children except for me because i was very small at that time. And I remember very well. Consuelo tried on the pants but really struggled to get into them, especially around the waist. And, therefore, she tried to force them on, and do up the buttons - the pants at that time used buttons - and eventually got them on, breaking the fastening. She said, wea, I put it on it anyway.
Audio 3: Another thing I remember about Consuelo is that on one occasion, in the year 1990, I was taking my first steps as an independent lawyer and I was processing the adoption of a Chilean child who was in a foster home that belonged to nuns, his parents had left him there. An American couple from the state of Oregon seems to have wanted to adopt so they had done all the paperwork to take him out of the country and I was helping them with that, along with the nuns who also wanted to place the child in a good home. These 'gringos' arrived in Chile, they were quite gringos. 'Waso', to put it in some way, this redneck, I think they call them redneck was a person who dedicated himself to the forestry part, he was a forestry worker and he came here with his wife and we had to go to do a procedure in Santiago. And there I asked Consuelo to accompany me and I remember that I paid her a fee. So that she could serve as my interpreter and she accompanied me to Santiago, we traveled by bus there and we traveled by bus back. And I tried to speak in English to the gringo, but he couldn't understand me. Consuelo also said she couldn't communicate with him. "I don't understand this 'culiao gringo' either because of his accent", so let's pretend we understand him and leave it there.
Una reunión familiar por zoom/ A family meeting on zoom (only in Spanish)
Consuelo made this birthday greeting for her granddaughters birthday, in 2020, for Martina's 13th birthday
El padre de Consuelo era Jorge Rivera Gutiérrez, quien era Suboficial con la especialidad de Mecánico de la fuerza aérea de Chile, luego piloto civil e Instructor de vuelo y, más tarde entró a estudiar a la Escuela de Oficiales llegando al grado de Comandante de la Fuerza Aérea de Chile, su madre era Victorina de las Mercedes Fuentes Díaz, quien recién casada trabajaba en la fábrica de medias Monarch, la cual aún existe en Chile , posteriormente y con la llegada de los hijos se hizo cargo del hogar y de la familia. Consuelo era la hija mayor y tenía dos hermanas, Rosa y Nancy, y tres hermanos, Jorge, Juan Carlos y Rodrigo, todos profesionales universitarios al igual que ella . A principios de la década de 1970, se casó con Pedro Vásquez Aburto y tuvieron dos hijos; Christian Vásquez Rivera, quien nació en Chile en 1973, y Jorge Oscar Vásquez Rivera, quien nació en 1985. Jorge se mudó a Inglaterra con Consuelo, cuando ella se mudó allí en 1992, y creció en el Reino Unido. Christian se casó con Ximena Sanhueza Santander y tienen 4 hijos: Sebastián y Martina, y María José y Javiera, del matrimonio anterior de Ximena. Todos viven en Chile. Consuelo vivía en Staffordshire, Inglaterra, con su pareja Lynda y tres perros. Jorge y su pareja Sophie viven cerca.