ABSTRACT
In spite of the many financial and familial struggles in José's life in the twenties, all was not somber contention. José's mother and his godmother both doted on him. They never reacted in anything but amused affection when they found him trying on their dresses and shoes. José was allowed to be José, a fact that made it difficult for him, years later, to understand gay men who lived the double life of the closet. José's mother loved the idiosyncrasies and the creative flair evident in her son. It helped too that the accepted school curriculum of the day included training in the arts for all children. School recitals were important events, and outside of school, families that could afford it enrolled their children in tap dancing and ballet for the development of poise, and voice lessons and drama for elocution.
