Ancedote's.

Like many military wives, my mother had to raise me alone. When I was a newborn, my

father was in Bosnia. He was a Russian Linguist for the Army and left shortly after I arrived. I was

born in Sierra Vista, AZ and lived on Fort Huachuca while my father was gone. My mom was there

raising me in a place unknown to her, a place where she had no family or friends. She was an aspiring

teacher in school taking care of a newborn, house, and dog. Around the time I was 8 months old, my

mom was just about finished with her school and was preparing to take the MSAT. This was the big test

that she had to pass in order to get her teacher's credential. The moment she knew she was ready for

the MSAT, she paid her $300 and submitted her papers. Ironically, on the day before the test I came

up with the Croup Cough and had to be sent to the emergency room. Staying with me at the hospital

something dawned on my mother. She had a decision to make, either to stay with me or go and take

that test the next day. Knowing our future depended on whether or not she passed that test, she promised

herself that she would take it. Desperately looking for a caretaker for the time being she was gone,

she found a nice Chamorro (Guamanian) family who knew of my Grandmother. They offered to take

me in and waved my mom goodbye along with good-luck cheek kisses. Luckily, for us, my mom came

back with good news the next day. She had passed and now could happily take care of her new baby girl knowing

their future was looking bright.

When I was living in Virginia, I was just entering Kindergarten and lived mostly with my mom because my dad was always away for the army. I loved my life there, I actually had a family. I had neighborhood

friends who I played freeze, and hide and go seek with. I lived through every season happily making snowballs,

jumping in piles of leaves, and swimming in community pools. I had a secret hiding place in the endless

forest behind my house and had a crazy, messy dog who made me slimy and muddy. With all this going on,

of course I had no idea about my parents' problems. However, I did notice how we stopped movies and

cornbread in the basement and how it eventually turned into my dad's room instead of my playhouse. Shortly

after this, divorce came into the picture and my mother and I moved out and went to California, by CAR.

Driving there was a memorable experience, despite how long and tiring it was. My Aunt, Cousin, and Uncle helped

us drive there for we had an Allied moving truck and a blue LX Honda Civic filled with clothes and pillows

accompaning us. I was young when this happened, so I was confused and lost at first. I don't remember

being too sad though but that was because I noticed my mother being so composed. She raised me alone, and

I knew that she was going to get us through this cross-country drive and well off into what we had planned for

us ahead.

My mother grew up in a family who stuck to what they knew, things that made them feel secure. It

was all about "security, security, security", like my grandma would say. However, with my mom growing

up in different times that concept seemed kind of old school to her. She wanted something different to what

her family knew, she wanted a college education. Although she had no parent support, she still went through with

her plan. No parent support meaning no money, zero help, and especially no approval. You see my mom's

parents wanted her to join the civil service. They wanted her to work for the government because at those times

it was a solid career. However, deep inside she knew that was not her path. Following through with her

choice, she took on two jobs and went to community college. She did this for two years and saved all the

money she earned. When she was finally ready for college it was her hard earned savings that paid for

everything. She paid for her dorm, tuition, books, supplies, and food all by herself. Eventually her parents came

through, and started sending her $100 a week. Up until then, she got down to business and did what she had

to do to get where she wanted to be, being at school getting a lasting college education.