New Adventures…
It has been and continues to be SO fun to write my grandmother’s retelling of her life. It doesn’t matter how many times I have heard a story, something new always hits me or stands out. It’s really interesting viewing it as the writer first and her granddaughter second in some ways. I was just sitting here thinking; ‘ah they are getting ready to move to the United States’SO much has happened in this story so far! Look how far we have come!’ And then I realized this is BARELY the beginning of the life I know for her. My own mother hasn’t even been born! There is so much more to tell, to discover and to live and relive. As someone who fast forwards through movies and shows I haven’t seen before to find out how a scene or scenario resolves, or reads the synopsis to know the end before even starting it… I am in a very pleasant position. I know this story. I have even lived/ witnessed a portion of it. While I know the big events, the twists and turns… even some endings and beginnings.. I am witnessing it for the first time through her eyes. Our life isn’t a series of events but our interpretation, connection, and response to those events. Therefore, know one really knows OUR life until WE get a chance to tell it.
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After Ralph’s birth and baptism, we went back to Camiri. Having Ida and Rosa was such an incredible help. Rosa was able to take over as a nanny for him. She absolutely adored him, as did everyone else in the camp. We had built a good life there but we knew this is not where we wanted to stay as there were no good schools and it just felt very temporary for us. Not only did we plan on eventually leaving the oil camp but our goal was to save money and move to the United States.
Around that time Henry’s uncle, Carlos, came to visit us. Uncle Carlos had moved to the United States in the early 1920’s and had stayed in the U.S and worked as a Doctor. He only went back to Bolivia to visit family, but never to live. I had the opportunity to meet him and he was a very kind man. Henry had been offered a scholarship to study in Oklahoma and he was thinking of accepting the scholarship while we would stay in Bolivia and await a visa, hopefully joining him in a year or two.When Uncle Carlos was visiting he made a point to advise us against that. He said I will help get you the Visa, just save money and I will provide the Visa. We didn’t have to pay for rent living in the oil camp and had very little expenses so saving was pretty easy.
Around that time Ralph got sick so I didn’t think anything of it when I also became sick. We went to the doctor and the first question the Doctor asked was “when was your last period”. I replied; ‘oh goodness, I don’t know, before I got married in November’. He looked at me and said “you’re pregnant.” No, impossible I thought. ‘Excuse me,’ I said, ‘I am still nursing, it makes sense I would have no period, how could I be pregnant!?’ But sure enough I was pregnant and going to have another baby. But then it was time to start getting all of the paperwork ready to apply for our visas to move to the States. We were getting ready for not one but TWO new adventures.
