Pg 8 - My Story

Hello again, and on with my story.

Life was good again. We took the kids to carnivals, rodeos, & live stock shows as a family. Another dog came to our home and somehow we ended up adopting her and in no time we had puppies. Easter came with the coloring of eggs, Easter egg hunt and church.  Kristina was now in softball games and what fun to watch. Our ninth anniversary Jimmy bought me beautiful dozen roses.  We took the kids camping, and to this zoo where the animals ran around free and you stayed in your  car.  It was fun as I tried to make the kids birthdays fun for them by making fun cakes like a smurf or micky mouse. This was my reward, I had my family back.

I went and got a job at a seven  eleven food store and found a neighbor to baby sit the kids. It didn't last to long before I noticed the kids told me they didn't want to go there anymore. They could not tell me why and I just figured they didn't want me to work.  Than one morning all three kids hung on me crying, pulling at me clothes begging not to go into the babysitter's house.  What could I do?  I called into work, told them I could not come in, and started looking for someplace to put my kids when I worked. 

I found a daycare to watch my kids. It was going to cost  me more but the peace of mind was well worth it. To this day, I don't know why my kids didn't want to go into the babysitter's home. I was friends with the woman whom I paid to babysit, and took her out to lunch to try and explain why she was not babysitting anymore which was hard to do with no concrete answers and I knew she needed the money. It is a safe bet to say that she didn't talk to me anymore after that.

One day while I was working at the cash register I got a phone call from a child's voice. 

"Hello?" I said.

"Mommy where are you?" said the child's voice on the phone. I panicked. It sounded like Kristina, but she was suppose to be at the day care. A bus picks her up from school and I pick all three of them up after work.  The alarming feeling inside got worse.

"Mommy, I'm scared." said the frightened voice on the phone before she hung up. I could not think straight. I tried to call Jimmy but I could not get him. I was alone in the store with customers coming in and out. I guess I could just lock up the store and look for her. Quickly I got on the phone and called the day care. They assured me she was at their facility, but I made  them check again so I could talk to her.  They could not find her. They decided they would drive to  my home and see if she was there. You could imagine how hard it was for me to concentrate on my job. I kept seeing her frightened and crying in the house in my head.  I  couldn't stand feeling so helpless.  It was all I could do as to not lock up the store. Yet I wasn't sure if the keys I had really did lock both store doors and if the store was closed than what?

It was about fifteen minutes later when the daycare called me and told me Kristina was with them. They said that she must have gotten on the wrong bus. I finished my shift and couldn't wait to see my baby and talk to the person in charge  of the daycare. How could they let this happen?  We talked, he apologized and told me how they were short handed and the next thing I know I had a job at the day care.  It was a cut in pay, but than I also wasn't paying for day care anymore. I gave my two weeks' notice and pretty soon I had a dream job. I was getting paid to watch my kids. 

I know I am a mother, but I had never really worked in a daycare before. I graduated high school but I  only did some art in college. Now I was in charge of the four year olds, to teach them their numbers and alphabet and help get them ready for kindergarten . This was so much fun as I looked for books and magazines on tricks and games to help teach the children. I had to get creative and what a wonderful feeling when they would actually learn something from me. But the best was when there was a field trip and all the kids got to go. I would be getting paid to have fun with my kids along with the other kids and have fun at these excursions.

On August 18, 1983 there was a hurricane in Galveston,Tx. Hurricane Alishia made lots of tornadoes that came all the way to Houston where we were. I was never so terrified as I taped up all the windows and put things away, buying can products and water.  That night was terrible listening to the winds knock at the windows and doors of the house.  We had this big closet that a lot of the time I put the kids inside with flash lights, pillows and blankets.   The next day we decided to venture out to see what kind of damage there was. Big trees were pulled out by the roots.  Houses were destroyed.  I remember seeing a K-Mart with a lot of the bricks gone from the outside of the building exposing the contents of the store for the out side to see.  

A couple of weeks later we went back home to Illinois to see family. It was such a great feeling to be by my sisters and brother. My sister Jeannie  had a brain tumor that metastaticized to both side of her brain by the brain stem. When they operated they could only take out the right side of the tumor which left her to learn everything all over again. But since they could not take out left side of the tumor it would grow right back to the right side. She was doing well and it was great to see her again. It was great to see my parents and Jimmy's parents and his sister. Plus we were just in time for the big family picnic that Jimmy's family  had every year. And wouldn't you know it, I also had a surprise for them. I was pregnant again.

Halloween was fun as I made the customs for my kids resembling a witch, crayon, and princess Lea. The day care had a party and of course we went trick or treating. Than in November to my surprise my sister Jeannie got married. She looked beautiful and it was such a comfortable feeling to know that after all she went through she was going to have a regular life like everyone else.

Christmas came and went and in the beginning of January I had another beautiful baby girl.
Well that is all for today. I will try to  get back on tomorrow. I do get the pleasure of babysitting three of my grandchildren the next couple of day. YaHoo. To me that is what life is all about. 

Kristina, Marie, Jennifer, Jessica & Erik