Harvard postdocs discover surprising family connection
Sonia Gomez and Marla Ramírez were a few weeks into their postdoctoral fellowships at the Mahindra Humanities Center when they met in Ramírez’s office to discuss their research and common interests. Both California natives, the women talked about their shared scholarship in the study of migration, their Los Angeles roots, and how to balance work and family. They discussed their spouses — Ramírez’s husband, José Molina Ruano, works in construction and Gomez’s husband, Marlon, is a plumber — and discovered both men have roots in Yahualica, a small town in the Mexican state of Jalisco. It wasn’t long before they realized they shared the family name Ruano. “This cannot be!” Gomez screamed. Ramírez was giddy: “Oh my goodness, we’re family!” Furious texting to extended family ensued, and the couples soon realized José’s maternal grandfather, Pablo Ruano-Ruano, is a first cousin of Marlon’s paternal grandmother, Guadalupe Ruano-Gomez. The couples said that both José and Marlon’s...