I was born and raised in Corpus Christi. My father fought in World War 2, made it back home, and then was killed in an explosion when I was six. My mother did eventually re-marry, but for a while it was just my mom, my sister, and I.
I learned to be resilient; as a kid, I didn’t know any different. My mother was a strong woman and set a good example of working hard: I learned from her that if you’re smart, you have a responsibility to use your gifts for good. You might say that I was a latch-key kid before there were latch-key kids, so I also learned to be independent. I loved the coast, and as a teenager I worked for a time selling bait and helping the fishermen get the boats out and onto the water. I guess that isn’t a typical job for a thirteen or fourteen-year old girl, but it was a great summer.
For high school I went to Abilene Christian College (now University) High School, where I became a Christian and met my future husband Robert, who was a sophomore in college. We got married when I was a senior. Since he did not have the Deans’ permission, the price he paid was a one-semester suspension (remember it was the 1950s at a religious school), so I actually ended up graduating from Pyote High School, which was in Robert’s hometown. Robert resumed college that next summer while I worked at a drug store. We had both grown up relatively poor, so we were used to the lifestyle. Sometimes we had to sell a few books to pay the bills, but commitment, perseverance, and our shared faith carried us through. We supported each other: we both worked while he was in college, with the understanding that when it was my turn, I would get my degree. We also had our first child, a daughter.
After Robert graduated, we moved to Japan to work at a Christian college. Before long, I had mastered the language and was dreaming in Japanese. While in Japan I also gave birth to our son, raising him and his older sister. While Robert taught at the school, I home schooled the children in English, though they also attended Japanese schools. We returned to the United States after nine years, and Robert got a job as a preacher while I went to college, as we had always promised each other.
I never took less than 18 hours in a semester, so it took me exactly two years and nine months to finish. In 1971, after graduating with a degree in English and Math, I got a job as a teacher in Harlandale ISD, on the south side of San Antonio. I taught middle school and high school before I “lost my mind” and went into administration. I served as the vice-princial of McCollum High School, principal of Adams Elementary, and then my last year as principal of Kingsborough Middle School. Robert and I retired from education in June of 1997.
I’ve had a lot of different jobs over the years, and between those early days on the coast, clerking at K-Mart, teaching, and most recently, working as a licensed vocational nurse, I’ve never had a job I didn’t like. Everyone has days when they come home feeling exhausted, but God blessed Robert and me with meaningful work throughout our lives. Robert and I both loved what we did, and that made the work enjoyable, regardless of what exactly that work was. Robert and I supported each other, and in that manner we both got our master’s degrees while raising our two children and working. In fact, Robert even learned to cook these gourmet meals when I started working as a principal, so I would always come home to the smell of great food.
When our daughter decided to have a child, we moved to Northwest San Antonio to be closer to her. We lived there from 1992 to 1997 and enjoyed watching our grandson grow. Our house burned down around Christmas of 1997 after we had been retired for just six months. Robert thought it was one of the worst things that could have happened, but I reminded him that there must be a reason for this turn of events. We had always wanted to travel, so we bought a pickup truck and a trailer, and traveled around the country for three years, loving every minute of it. We have expanded our travels over the years, making trips as far as Tibet, India, China, Cuba, Haiti, Scotland, and countless places in North America. Along the way we have met good people who were interested in fostering relationships with others, no matter where they came from. There are certainly problems in the world, and we experienced some tensions, but at the level of personal relationships, we always find a way to relate, and that has made our travels all the more rewarding.
Not many people become a licensed vocational nurse at my age, but after years of caring for my mother and another close friend who died of cancer, I saw the need for that kind of work. I have always loved school, so the LVN course at St. Philips College was fun. I firmly believe that if you are paying attention, you’ll realize that there is always more to learn. Of course, studying also keeps you off the streets and out of trouble… well, maybe not always out of trouble. There are always problems, but there is no replacement for the relationships you build, the particular joy of bearing one another’s burdens, and the lifelong learning that comes in the process.
Story: Will Young; Photos: Claire Schenken
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