TRANSCRIPTION
What are your earliest childhood memories?
Hmm, well I will never forget playing with my brother Courtney. We played all the time. We would swing from the vines on the tree; we called that game Tarzan, cowboys and Indians was another favorite thing to play. Oh we would also take mommas clean towels and tie them around our neck like they were capes, and we could fly. And I will never forget when we got a TV for the first time. (Smiles)
How old were you when you got a TV?
Well I remember being about 13. Dwight Eisenhower was running for President and Dad watched him give his speeches all the time. Before that we didn't have TV's we just listened to it all on the radio, so having a TV was a step up.
You were one out of how many children?
I was the third child out of 7! Sam was 8 years older, Sherry 4, and then me, than Courtney was 2 years younger, than there was an 6 year break , than there was Forest in 1950, Kayce in !952, and Brady in 1953.
How was your home life like?
Well it was pretty chaotic at times. We fought just like you and your brother do today, just twice as bad. (Smiles deeply)
Did y'all have chores y'all did?
Oh yea! We lived on a lot of land; we had cows, chickens and pigs. We would have to go out and milk the cows and gather the eggs, we pretty much just made our own food from the animals we had. Momma also had a garden we took care of; it was full of all kinds' vegetables. We also had to make sure the house was pretty clean.
What did you do in your spare time?
Well, we went to church at Trinity Lutheran church, and they had sports teams there, I was on the baseball and volleyball teams. Every weekend we would have games against the other churches. I also played Volleyball for my high school though.
What was it like not having the many vaccines we now have today?
Well, there was one vaccine we did have to have, it was the small pox. Before you went to school you had to get it! (Lifts up sleeve and shows here scar). When we got sick we would go to the doctor for a visit, but my grandma was pretty much the nurse of the family, so she would just come over and fix us up. We had plenty of home remedies.
What kind of home remedies did you have?
Castro oil, it tasted horrible! It was used to get rid of a cough; it also made you get well fast so you did not have to take it! Iodine we used for cuts and scrapes, it killed the germs. Kerosene was used to take poison out, like if you stepped on a rusty nail!
How far did you go in school?
I almost finished the 12th grade, but I dropped out 2 months before graduation. That was my biggest mistake! Don't you ever do that.
How far did your mom go in school?
Well when my mother was in school there were not 12 grade levels just 10, and she did finish all 10 years. My dad graduated from Brackenridge High School. Back then there were only two high schools in Bexar county; Brackenridge, and Main Avenue.
Where was your first job?
When I was a junior in High School me and my friend went down and got a job at a store called Handy Andy. We were checkers because we were girls and girls were not allowed to bag, that was the boy's job!
How much did you get paid working there?
Well if I remember right girls started out at 50 cents an hour, while the boys started at 25 cents an hour.
What was your first car?
My first car was a '50 model Cadillac, I didn't have to buy it though (laughs), it was given to me by a boyfriend to get back and forth to work.
Do you remember the first time you got to vote?
Yes, I didn't register to vote until the early 70's. I voted for Johnson. I was also a pole person twice; I would stand there and show the others how they were supposed to vote.
Were any of your family members in the service?
Yes, my daddy served in WWII, he was in the Navy. On his grave in Utopia there is a marker on his head stone, because he was a Texas state hero for fighting at the Alamo. Your grandpa was in the Marines. And my brother Courtney was in the Navy, and fought in the Vietnam War.
Did you ever see or deal with any racial discrimination??
Well where we grew up in San Antonio there were no black people, just Mexican and white. We never had any of the racism like other states did. The Mexicans and white would fuss, and get in fights but that's about it.
How did you and grandpa meet?
Well, it's a funny story. We met in the first grade, he was in my class. He bought me an ice cream and we became friends. He was the first boy I had ever dated. He ran all my other boyfriends off, he even chased one down and threw him off his bike, I never heard from that boy again. (Laughs)
When did you get married?
August 16, 1961. I was 18 years old. I got married in San Antonio at the Trinity Lutheran Church. That's where all my kids got married to.
What about when you and grandpa traveled?
Yes, when your grandpa was in Arizona he went to get a drink out of a water fountain and one said colored and the other said nothing. A woman standing there told him, that one is for you and this one is mine. That was the first time we had been faced with this kind of racism.
Is there anything else you would like to add to this interview?
That you should learn from the things that happen to you. Finish school no matter what. I know I would have. And always remember to enjoy every day as it comes you way!
