PAPILLO

Rev. Jose V. Espada Marrero is better known by his family as "Papillo".

If you call your grand father Papillo how would you call grand mother? "Mamilla", of course; one goes with the other. They had one daughter, my mom Josefina, and six boys, Jose Luis, Samuel Leocadio, Ismael, Ibsen Ruben, David, Kelvin Emerson.

I don't know about you but in my personal experience there is a host of reasons why people are given nicknames. In the Espada family is no exception. All you have to do is get a group of kids like my Mom and her brothers and before long nicknames start flying like sparks from a flint rock.

   Take a look a this picture to the left. There you have all seven of them. Now tell me that it did not take a miracle to get all of them to sit still and in order for this picture. Look at the boy, tío Jose Luis, right in front of my Mom and tell me that his smile doesn't have a hint of some mischief brewing in his mind. By personal experience I can tell you that from the minds of these preachers kids flourished a list of  nicknames like: Trukutu, Kevecito, Ñuñu and Pichu to name a few. But where did the nickname "Papillo" come from?

On May 24, 1941 Papillo's eldest, Josefina, married Msgt. Manuel Morales and on August 15, 1942, Jose Manuel Morales Espada was born. Papillo's first grandson. Rev. Jose Espada Marrero purposed in his heart to give his first grandson a name of endearment, "Papillo" which means little "daddy". And so Rev Espada gave and called his first grandchild, Papillo. Time passed by and little Jose/Papillo grew  and upon learning to speak he returned his love for his grandfather by calling him, Jose Espada Marrero, "Papillo". The natural outcome of calling our grandfather, Papillo, was calling our grandmother, Mamilla. Now you know the rest of the story.

In Memory Of Papillo and Mamilla

Josefina Orlandi and Jose Espada
Mamilla and Papillo

"We Will All Remember You Both"

Your Grandchildren