A Busy Season…

Titi Tuesdays are back!! And I am hoping they stay! It has been a busy season in my life, which is very fitting considering that my grandmother talks about a very busy time in her life as well. In hopes of making sure this gets out early enough today, I don’t want to write too much of my own thoughts so I will let this “chapter” speak for itself. 

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“Things were improving once Spring came and we found out how close we were to different things that we could walk to. We got some new clothes, I bought red shoes, I had wanted red shoes for years, so my husband bought me red shoes and we started to meet new people. Oscar brought some Bolivian families and Henry’s cousin was here. Henry started working as a draftsman so it meant he didn’t have to work so many hours, so he would be home by 5:30 every day. Mrs. Sharp, who was taking me to so many tea parties and social events, I not only got to know her kids more and more but also got to meet many women from all over the world. 

So life was improving, the weather was better and things felt much better. Henry talked to his cousin and there was another girl from Bolivia, so we decided to get a bigger house and rent a couple rooms out as it would be cheaper. We found a house a block away from downtown Urbana on mainstreet. It had two floors and the upper level had 2 bedrooms and a bath and downstairs had one bedroom, a bath, and then of course the living room and kitchen. There was laundry in the house and this wonderful back patio. There was more than enough room for everybody and we decided that we wanted to bring my brothers to the States. 

Manuel had just graduated from high school so we started his paperwork. Mrs. Sharp had said she was more than happy to sponsor them as well, so we excitedly started the process. It should have been my brother Fernando first as he was the oldest out of the two but he had suffered a very very bad accident when he was 18 years old. He was with his friends and they had gone out that night as they did at that age just being kids and having fun. Anyway, two of his friends got into a fight with another guy and he had gone over to separate them and somebody punched him in the eye. Fernando always had to wear glasses, which he was that night, so when they hit him the glass shattered into his eye and it resulted in the loss of his vision and many many surgeries. It really was devastating as he was a wonderful tennis player and it meant that he couldn’t play any more and also prevented him from driving. There were so many things he couldn’t do. When it happened Henry and I were living in the oil camp and I was pregnant with Ralph. My mother decided not to tell me because she didn’t want to add more stress, so I went months without knowing this tragedy had happened. When I finally found out I remember how sad I was that it could happen to somebody as wonderful as him. But he had his piano and his music which I think really saved him. He had his sense of humor as well and never felt that people should feel sorry for him. He was always telling jokes no matter what. There were times where we didn’t know how he could get through it with such a positive outlook but he was always such a fun and wonderful person to be around. He eventually came to the United States after Manuel but this was the reason why he didn’t initially come when it would have been him first. 

So anyway Manuel was set to come and we rented this big house. Between Henry’s cousin, this other Bolivian woman and us we could afford a bigger house. In downtown Urbana at that time there was a restaurant about four blocks from our house. I decided since Henry was working only until 5:30 that I could get a job there as a waitress from 6:00 to midnight. So they hired me and I went home and told Henry that I got a job. He wasn’t particularly happy about it as he just didn’t think I needed to work but I had already got the job and I wanted to work. So I started the next week. Henry would come at 5:30 and I would leave and be there by 6:00. It was one of the hardest jobs I ever had to do because of the fast pace and atmosphere. It also gave me a huge respect for individuals in the service industry, as well. I would have to deal with customers at night and then go home around midnight. During the day I was with the kids and then would also do the cooking and the cleaning for the whole household. For as much responsibility as I had already I was only 22 years old at the time so the late night customers would also often try to make passess at me or comments, which felt more than uncomfortable. Henry would come every night when I got off to walk me back home while my brother would stay with the kids. One night I was waiting and waiting and waiting and he didn’t come. There were some guys outside with me that kept making comments and offering to take me to my house but I was so afraid. The police would also come around nightly so when they did they said they couldn’t take me in the car but would follow me while I walked home. So there I was walking with this police car just slowly following behind me as I am crying and crying and then here comes Henry just running down the street frantically, saying he fell asleep and was so sorry. It took only 6 weeks of that routine; cleaning, cooking, taking care of the kids during the day, then working from 6pm to midnight every night.. Until my body just gave out. I could not handle all that work and had to eventually quit that job but it is still part of my story and our start in our new town and life in this country.”