-
My Grandfather, the Barber
One story shared to me by my dad is about my grandfather being a barber for a time. The significance of this story is that my grandfather was the only barber in Junction, TX at that time that was willing to cut the hair of the Hispanic men in town. The other white barbers refused to do it. This story is part of the influence in my life that discrimination is wrong. (picture of my dad) -
Period: to
My life
-
Lubbock uses busing to integrate schools
At the beginning of my 3rd grade school year, half of my friends were bused to another school on the other side of Lubbock as part of better integrating the school system. Students from the other school were bused to my school and I went to school with more Black and Hispanic students than I ever had before. This was influential because it is when I first began to learn about other cultures and have friends that were not white. The bus is a symbol of that time. -
Parents divorced
My parents divorced when I was 8 years old, and I lived with my mom and brother. Socially, this changed us is many ways: we moved into an apartment, changed schools, and had to rely on my grandparents a lot more financially. This was influential to my life because my mom felt like she was less of a person because she was divorced, and I learned that relationship status should not define who you are. (picture represents the heart break we all felt) -
Family Reunions
When I was ten, my dad's family began having yearly family reunions. I learned that my grandfather and his siblings had fought over the land left to them in their father's will, and it created a rift. Half of the families did not come to the reunion because of that rift. I learned that family is too important to throw away for greed. (picture of my dad's family home) -
Holidays
Christmas time when I was young involved having a special Christmas Eve dinner with just my mother and brother and opening gifts from each other. Then Christmas morning, we would go to my grandparents' house to meet with the rest of my mom's family and open gifts with them after we saw what "Santa" had brought us. This was influential because I continued this tradition with my own children. (picture of my kids) -
Obey your parents
A few years after my parents divorced, my mom began dating a Hispanic man who lived out of town. She did this secretly because she knew that her parents would not approve. He asked her to marry him, but she said no because she would not upset her parents. She was happier during the time she was dating him than any other time I have known her to be, and I learned that loving someone should not depend on color or race. (the picture represents the sadness my mom felt) -
Friends, but not boyfriends
In the ninth grade, I had a friend named Marco who is Hispanic, specifically from Mexico. My mom thought it was great that we were friends because she considered herself to be very non-discriminatory. However, when Marco asked me to the ninth grade dance and to be his girlfriend, my mom forbade it. She said it was fine for us to be friends, but not more than that. I learned that prejudice can live in the hearts of those who believe they have no prejudices. (picture of a mixed race couple) -
Claudia comes from Germany
When I was a junior in high school, we had a foreign exchange student from Germany that lived with us for the school year. I learned how different our families were during the first week when she walked naked from the bathroom to our bedroom, and I was horrified. She taught me so many things that were different in Germany from America, and I still hope to visit Europe in my lifetime. I learned that America is not the only great country. (picture similar to Claudia) -
My Brother's half Catholic wedding
My family has always been protestant--specifically baptist since I was a baby. When my brother fell in love with a sweet Catholic girl, my mother thought it was the end of the world. Especially when the wedding was a modified Catholic wedding due to the groom not being Catholic. Many feelings were hurt during that time, and I learned how important it is not to base love on religious affiliation for myself or for others. (The picture shows a happy couple like my brother and his wife.) -
Nephew is Born
When my nephew was born in May of 1997, my husband and I lived in Lubbock while my new nephew lived with his parents in Fort Worth. Within three months, we had moved to Fort Worth to be close to my family. Family has been a big part of my life. My mom also moved to be close to us several years later, and now we all live in the DFW area. This was influential because we moved to a new city just to be with family. (picture of my nephew) -
Damaris from Romania
When I was teaching in Little Elm, before I had children, there was a foreign exchange student who had to be removed from the family she was placed with due to extenuating circumstances. My husband and I took Damaris in for the remainder of the school year. I learned so many things about her country and what it had been like for her parents to live in a socialist country before she was born. This influenced my understanding of countries that were part of the cold war. (picture of Damaris)
