TRANSCRIPTION
What are your earliest childhood memories?
I remember going to my grandma and grandpas house all the time. We practically lived over there, and were constantly making trips back and forth from home to their house. I was about four years old when they moved back to Schertz, Texas and I remember going with my grandpa to a place called the Barn Yard. It was what we looked forward to all the time, always doing the weekly chores and what my parents told us to do, so we could go to grandma and grandpas
What types of toys did you have?
We didn’t have much to play with besides one doll on Christmas that was always what we looked forward to. It was our favorite time because we would all get a new doll. Other than that, we always played with jacks, hopscotch and jump rope. We made due with that we had and never asked for anything special. I remember we would make stick horses out of things lying around the house; it was our favorite part of the day when we could be kids and have fun.
You were young when World War II was going on, what do you remember?
I don’t remember much at all because I was very young, and it disappoints me but I do remember my daddy being in the service and us living on base at Kelly Field. On the base they would “ration” foods and stuff, that’s what the called it. They would give us stamps to buy things like sugar, gas and coffee, and we could only get a certain amount because they needed it for the war. We would have to use less of everything because we would only get the stamps every month and mamma and daddy would save all that they could to get us by. I also remember the housing on base was very nice, probably the nicest thing we had ever lived in, we like it a lot. But when my daddy got discharged we had to leave.
Why was your dad discharged from the military?
Well at first he was very healthy, and back then most men had to or did join the military. But he had a bad case of Arthritis, and could never function right. He was crippled and couldn’t stand up straight for most of his life. We would always joke about it when I was young, but I knew it was very painful for him to go through. He was discharged because he couldn’t do anything for them anymore.
Did the military try to get your dad help for his Arthritis?
Yes, when I was young and my father was still established in the military they would try to find a cure for his illness. What they would do is send our family on train to Arkansas and back. It was only for about a week or two, if I remember correctly and we would stay on this train headed for Arkansas with tons of other soldiers, my father would stay with the doctor while my mother was by his side. They would leave us with my grandmother who would stay on the train with us. We would get the soldiers to take care of us and play games with us. They became my best friends; I had the time of my life.
Being the oldest of five in your family was it a lot of responsibility being the oldest?
My, yes it was I was always the one that had to watch all my brothers and sisters, they always counted on me to take care of everything that was needed. I went to the grocery store and cooked dinner for the family. I took care of my sister when she was sick, and always had all my chores to do. Back then we all had to do our part in the family, there was always something that had to be done each day, and our day wouldn’t be complete without us doing our chores.
You said your sister was sick, what was wrong with her?
Malignant Diphtheria, it was something doctor’s back then didn’t know much of. She died when I was really young, and was really hard on my family..
How many schools did you go to when you were younger, and what do you remember about them? Where were they located?
I went to a lot of schools throughout my life. When I was younger, and my daddy was still in the military, I went to school on the base, it was until I was about three. Then when we moved I went to Edgewood Elementary, then W..W. White Elementary, Jefferson Davis Middle school, and then East Central High School in San Antonio. I really don’t know what we choose San Antonio to live in, but my momma really liked all the people she lived by. I also remember when I went to Edgewood we had a one room school house, it was just one teacher who taught first, second, third and fourth
grade.
What year did you graduate High School? How many people were in your graduating class?
I graduated from East Central in 1955, and had 30 people who graduated with me. I can count all my classmates, we were all good friends.
What made you choose not to go to college, or further your education?
We didn’t get pushed towards furthering our education, especially women. Most of the women I knew would just be housewives get married out of high school and start having children. Some women went to something called business school, but that was very rare.
When did you start dating? What was dating like back then?
I started “dating” which we didn’t call it that back then. We never told our parents that we were dating. But I was allowed to start seeing boys when I was around seventeen. We always went on group dates with everyone both boys and girls. If we ever wanted to see a boy close to by ourselves we had to go on a double date. I met your grandfather through my best friend, which was his sister. (She laughed)
Did yal have any big High School danced? What did you wear?
We never had big dances, and we never went with boys it was always me and the girls I ran around with. I can remember when out high school got a new gym floor and we were scheduled to have a dance there. The principle made us go in our socks so we wouldn’t get the floor scuffed up, we called it the “sock hop” because we would all dance around in our socks and run around like chickens with our heads cut off.
I used to wear pretty dressed to our dances, which my grandma and mom would make me, they were beautiful and I would always love the first time I tried them on. My mother would make all my friends their dresses too, it took weeks.
What kind of jobs did you have in your lifetime?
My first job was babysitting for Mr. and Mrs. Lyro who lived on the corner of the street. They had one son, who was a pain in the butt. They owned a service station and on Saturday’s Mrs. Lyro would help out at the station, and I would take care of him. I wouldn’t get paid much, if anything to watch him. My next job was I worked at USAA, at the age eighteen. I would work in the mailroom and help sort mail, and do everything they wanted me to do. I didn’t work their very long because I got married and started to have children.
Did men have to ask your father for your hand in marriage?
Of course, that was what always had to happen, your grandfather had so many girlfriends, I was so surprised when he wanted me to be his wife. He finally gave up all them and asked my father if he could marry me. It was one of the best moments.
You had two sets of twins, was this very rare thing that happened in those days?
Oh yes, it was a shock to me and grandpa because we didn’t even know we were going to have twins. No one near us had twins during our time, it was very odd. Then when we had another set of twins it was very rare. I remember getting a call from family in Mississippi saying that our birth announcement was in the Mississippi and Arkansas paper. I got very much attention wherever I went, at the super market everyone would stop me and knew who I was and wanted to see my children. People all over had heard about it and it always made me and grandpa laugh. We were famous!!!
Did life change drastically when you had your five children?
Of course, we had a zoo around the house because your dad, (the middle child between the two sets of twins) would always fight and bicker. They were always picking on each other and making each other mad. Back then, everyone had a lot of children so I know I wasn’t the one that had a hard time, but it was a different feeling having them come two at a
time.
How did you manage to put all five children through schooling, and pay for all their necessities?
Your grandpa worked very hard for everything we had, we had a small house and the kids had to share two rooms. I would sometimes clean houses to earn extra money to have a good meal on the table. I would do my best to make the girls their clothes and buy the boys the toys they wanted.
You said you made the girls clothes, what kind of clothes did you make?
Well your aunts were on the tennis team when they were in High School, so I would make the whole tennis team their outfits. I loved to sew and they knew it. I would make them their dresses for everything and all the events they needed stuff for.
You and grandpa traveled a lot before you had kids, where are all the places you had gone, and lived?
Well we had been a lot of places. Grandpa had a lot of jobs everywhere around the United States, being that he worked for the Airlines. The longest place we lived besides San Antonio was El Paso, where grandpa worked for three years. But other than that we had been to Hawaii, Alaska, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico and all around Mexico. I enjoyed Hawaii the most because as a little girl I had always dreamed of going there, and finally your grandpa took me.
Is there anything else you would like to add in the interview?
Although I am almost 72 and miss my husband greatly, I have a loving, happy family filled with seven grandkids and many friends. I am very happy to have all the people I have in my life, and to still be active.
