{"id":41761,"date":"2012-09-04T19:39:10","date_gmt":"2012-09-05T01:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=41761"},"modified":"2012-09-30T19:44:54","modified_gmt":"2012-10-01T01:44:54","slug":"value-of-family-embedded-in-lujans-foundation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/09\/value-of-family-embedded-in-lujans-foundation\/","title":{"rendered":"Value of family embedded in Luj\u00e1n\u2019s foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Democratic<\/a>

Courtesy photo<\/p>

Democratic candidate for the 3rd Congressional District (Courtesy photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018Family probably had the biggest impact in my life \u2013 seeing how you look after one another and how that translates into how you look after the community,\u2019 the Democratic 3rd Congressional District candidate says.<\/h4>\n

When Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n<\/a> was in elementary school, his paternal grandparents moved into his house. Even though the couple lived next door, Luj\u00e1n\u2019s parents wanted someone with them all the time.<\/p>\n

The move didn\u2019t change life for Luj\u00e1n, who fondly recalls a childhood with the constant presence of his grandparents. Even before the move, his family ate most meals with them. He knew their cuentos (stories). He felt how they were valued by their 10 children and the extensive web of Luj\u00e1ns.<\/p>\n

More than anything, he witnessed the power of a family\u2019s love, a love that extended to their community. The couple, who were married for almost 75 years, sang Spanish ditties to each other, sometimes making up lyrics and laughing together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were very much in love \u2013 I learned lessons in life about looking after each other,\u201d Luj\u00e1n said. \u201cEverything they did revolved around family.\u201d<\/p>\n

When his maternal grandparents were hurt in a major vehicle crash, family stepped up again. Luj\u00e1n\u2019s mom, Carmen Luj\u00e1n, and her five siblings took turns living in the grandparents\u2019 Jacona house for a week at a time. Luj\u00e1n describes that period during his high-school years as a family reunion every week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was how everyone\u2019s world revolved,\u201d he said. \u201cThey were our No. 1 priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

The value of family and taking care of one another is embedded in Luj\u00e1n\u2019s foundation. That value has shaped his political perspective, including how he approaches his role as a Democrat seeking re-election in the 3rd Congressional District. He\u2019s facing a challenge this year from Republican Jeff Byrd<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamily probably had the biggest impact in my life \u2013 seeing how you look after one another and how that translates into how you look after the community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Forty-year-old Luj\u00e1n recently shared stories of his childhood during conversations often interrupted by scattered cell service as he was being driven to community events \u2013 a Cochiti Pueblo feast day one time and a parade in Taos another.<\/p>\n

Family roots<\/h3>\n

Luj\u00e1n\u2019s description of his childhood mirrors that of generations of Northern New Mexican natives who grew up in large, intimate families, living together and nurturing the land, animals and water they needed for survival. His father, Ben Luj\u00e1n, happened to be a member of the N.M. House for 37 years and House speaker for more than a decade, but the younger Luj\u00e1n said politics didn\u2019t play much of a role in his early childhood.<\/p>\n

He grew up in his dad\u2019s childhood home, next door to his grandparents and down the street from two aunts and uncles. Each generation added a room to the original two-bedroom home Luj\u00e1n\u2019s great-grandparents had built.<\/p>\n

Luj\u00e1n was the fourth and youngest child. He was eight years younger than his brother who was closest in age. If he wasn\u2019t with his parents, Luj\u00e1n was with one of the neighbor kids or some of his 26 first cousins on his dad\u2019s side or 13 uncles and aunts who lived in Namb\u00e9, Jacona and Pojoaque. Sometimes the Luj\u00e1ns\u2019 back pasture became the community baseball field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was always someone to play with,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

They raised sheep, as Luj\u00e1n\u2019s grandpa had. All the work has been handed down over generations of Luj\u00e1ns \u2013 tending to animals, harvesting a garden, maintaining the acequia. Ben Luj\u00e1n added goats when a friend convinced him of the value of goat\u2019s milk. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n remembers long milking sessions when goats kicked over their milk buckets and he had to start over.<\/p>\n

Both of Luj\u00e1n\u2019s grandpas were known for their large, productive gardens where they raised such traditional crops as green chile, tomatoes, corn, zucchini and squash. His aunts planted one big garden they shared as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the weekends, you\u2019d be out there sun up to sun down, taking a nap with the breeze blowing during the heat of the day, maybe drink some tea or lemonade if you were lucky, and then once it cooled off, you\u2019d be back out there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Luj\u00e1n has continued that tradition, planting a garden with his mom between his house and his parent\u2019s home. Luj\u00e1n lives now in his grandparent\u2019s home, next door to his childhood home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s where I find peace \u2013 tilling the garden or land, working the pasture, repairing the barn,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople say, \u2018Why do you do that on your day off?\u2019 It\u2019s not work. It\u2019s therapeutic.\u201d<\/p>\n

As much as Luj\u00e1n was born into a life full of Northern New Mexico traditions, he was born into politics. The night he arrived, his dad had won the primary for his second-term as Santa Fe county commissioner. The polls had closed, and his parents were eating dinner at a friend\u2019s house when his mom announced her water broke.<\/p>\n

To his young son, Ben Luj\u00e1n was a hard worker who cared for his family and community, not a politician. He was a welder, a jack-of-all trades who was up at 5 a.m. so he could begin whatever task needed to be done on their 3-acre property. The Luj\u00e1ns\u2019 devotion to their network of neighbors, family, constituents and fellow parishioners at Our Sacred Heart Parish in Namb\u00e9 was a constant in Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are the life lessons I was brought up with, something that helped shape me and who I am,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Learning political lessons<\/h3>\n

Luj\u00e1n hung out at the State Capitol in Santa Fe as a page when he was a young boy, but he didn\u2019t realize the impact a powerful legislator could have until he attended one of his father\u2019s committee hearings on taxes.<\/p>\n

Luj\u00e1n was a junior in high school, worried about how his dad would fare during this complex debate over tax policy. Then he heard Ben Luj\u00e1n speak with conviction and compassion. In that moment, Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n learned the importance of being prepared and educated about the issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember a technical exchange was taking place but how impressed, overwhelmed and proud I was with the knowledge my dad had,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was one of those moments where I was appreciating a different side of him that I didn\u2019t see around the dinner table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another moment that shaped Luj\u00e1n\u2019s view of being a legislator occurred at his breakfast table one day. When someone knocked on the door in the middle of breakfast and asked to visit with Rep. Ben Luj\u00e1n, Carmen poured the visitor a cup of coffee and left the kitchen with her son.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s this young man in high school, I don\u2019t even think he was voting age, and dad took the time to sit down and talk with him,\u201d he said. \u201cDad always said, \u2018Know when to listen and know when it\u2019s your turn to speak up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

While his dad showed him how to be a responsive legislator, Luj\u00e1n said he reflects on his mom\u2019s compassion when voting on legislation. As Congress debates education funding, or Medicare\u2019s future, his mom advises him: Don\u2019t forget the moral argument.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said to me, \u2018When you look at a policy, you have to remember there are people who are impacted by the decisions you make,\u2019\u201d Luj\u00e1n said.<\/p>\n

Luj\u00e1n also understands the significance of water and changing weather for families, like his, who have relied on their land for sustenance. The Luj\u00e1ns understand the importance of caring for an acequia so their family and their neighbors have water.<\/p>\n

It is Luj\u00e1n\u2019s connection to New Mexico\u2019s land that guides his philosophies on the importance of protecting water, investing in solar energy, increasing fuel efficiency in vehicles, reducing energy use to fight climate change, and designating wilderness areas in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cSustainability is a way of life in New Mexico,\u201d Luj\u00e1n said, citing energy-efficient adobe homes and acequia maintenance as examples.<\/p>\n

Finding his way<\/h3>\n

Luj\u00e1n began his own political path as student senator advocating for Pojoaque High School and then New Mexico Highlands University. Like many children of prominent parents, Luj\u00e1n has had the burden and advantage of being Ben Luj\u00e1n\u2019s son (Luj\u00e1n would never call it a burden). Some speculated whether Luj\u00e1n landed his first political job as deputy state treasurer or won his first election as Public Regulation Commission member because of his father.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Ben<\/a><\/dt>\n

Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n, Democratic candidate for the 3rd Congressional District, on caring for family:<\/strong> \u201cOur lives were shaped around Grandma and Grandpa\u2019s schedules. That was your responsibility. They were the reason we were here. They were the reason we had this beautiful place to call home.”<\/h4>\n

Luj\u00e1n is shown here with his uncle. (Courtesy photo)<\/p>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI think everyone makes their own way,\u201d Luj\u00e1n said. \u201cYou are who you are as a person because of who your family is. They are a very big part of my life. I would never ever shy away or turn away from the support of my mom and dad or any of my family, for that matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

He thinks media has dug into his background more because of his family. \u201cThere\u2019s a larger light that\u2019s cast on you, and you have to work that much harder to prove you are capable of providing the services, of doing the right thing, of working hard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

During his 2008 political campaign, media published stories<\/a> when one of his opponents claimed Luj\u00e1n was gay and his parents hired an escort for him. The accusation was particularly painful to Luj\u00e1n because it insulted both his parents and his girlfriend, Dawn Peavey.<\/p>\n

The couple has been together for almost five years. Whenever Luj\u00e1n is in New Mexico, he said they are together.<\/p>\n

Luj\u00e1n and Peavey share a connection over the values of work and family; Peavey cares for her mom in Santa Fe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to have a family,\u201d Luj\u00e1n said. \u201cMy brother\u2019s boys were hanging out with Uncle Ben this weekend, and that\u2019s important to me. We\u2019ll see what the Lord has in store for me. We want to make sure if, and hopefully when, we have children, I\u2019ll have the time to spend with them that they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caring for family<\/h3>\n

As Luj\u00e1n ponders his future, he is still learning life lessons from his parents. Following the tradition of generations before, family members are rallying around his mom and dad as Ben Luj\u00e1n copes with advanced-stage lung cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust when you think your mom and dad have taught you all they are going to teach you in life, you realize there is so much more you have to learn about faith, about family, about nurturing,\u201d Luj\u00e1n said. \u201cThe strength and courage my mom and dad have shown through this \u2013 I can\u2019t even quantify it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout Ben Luj\u00e1n\u2019s cancer treatments, his son is reminded of his origins. \u201cWhen family is needed, family steps up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Deborah Busemeyer is a freelance writer living in Santa Fe. Previously she was the communications director at the New Mexico Department of Health. She can be reached at\u00a0dbusemeyer@gmail.com<\/a>. A prior version of this article incorrectly said Luj\u00e1n’s father was speaker of the House for 37 years.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Family probably had the biggest impact in my life \u2013 seeing how you look after one another and how that translates into how you look after the community,\u2019 the Democratic 3rd Congressional District candidate says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2777,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[156,230,116],"class_list":["post-41761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-2012-election","tag-3rd-congressional-district-race","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2777"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41761\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}