Cindy,
Shortly after Junior's disappearance your Dad and I took several trips to the coast looking for him or looking for anything about his whereabouts. We visited an Aunt of his (coastal town??) that scolded your Dad because she hadn't seen any of your Dad's family in a long time. We also saw a nephew of his in Houston maybe Rene..not sure. We camped out on a corner store's parking lot one time and the clerk called the cops on us.
Another time found us in the middle of evening beach festivities (didn't have a brew..I wanted one) we just looked and looked through the crowds. Later that night we were cruising at highway speed and we took out a beautiful German Shepherd lying in the middle of our road.
We showed Junior's picture and talked to many people in all those little towns looking for any shred of news or information. I think we scared some folks in the process..some told us things we wanted to hear just to get rid of us.
Tio
Friday, January 27, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
The little pink tennis outfit
I don't know if you remember how much we use to go play tennis at Woodlawn Park but I know I liked it very much. As a matter of fact, Dad use to play tennis with us a lot and I remember how one time I hit that tennis ball so hard that I sent my racquet flying across the net, too. It was so funny. Dad and I busted out in laughter that we just couldn't stop laughing. I can see that racquet flying really, really high and away and thinking to myself, "I shouldn't have done that!". Dad saw how much I enjoyed playing with him that he signed me up for tennis lessons at San Pedro Park. My first class was scheduled for June 29, 1975, that same Saturday that you disappeared from the Ayala family. Right before we left for Matagorda Beach after the phone call, I folded the little pink tennis outfit I was supposed to wear to my first tennis lesson and placed it in my dresser drawer. Seeing it just brought back the saddest memory for me.
This wasn't the only thing I withdrew from after you disappeared but also the guitar lessons, the piano lessons, the flute lessons and the clarinet lessons. It was as if the music died in me the day you became missing.
A few years ago, when I picked up the guitar to play at the church where I was teaching, I became overwhelmed because the music we were playing was from the '70's and it was music you and I use to sing to when we attended mass at Little Flower Church where we attended school.
This wasn't the only thing I withdrew from after you disappeared but also the guitar lessons, the piano lessons, the flute lessons and the clarinet lessons. It was as if the music died in me the day you became missing.
A few years ago, when I picked up the guitar to play at the church where I was teaching, I became overwhelmed because the music we were playing was from the '70's and it was music you and I use to sing to when we attended mass at Little Flower Church where we attended school.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Life after your disappearance
It was very difficult to face reality after your disappearance. Dad was very adamant about finding you. Since the private investigator did not work out, he pretty much took things into his own hands. I remember him leaving the house and not knowing where and how long he would be but he was very deep in his own thoughts. I did find out that the Ayala's reported dad to the authorities because he would park at San Pedro park, across from the Ayala's house, and just kept an eye on them. Dad was very suspicious of them because as it was they had told us that they planned on going to Corpus Christi, not to Matagorda Beach. Why they made a change without letting us know still does not make sense. If you are holding yourself responsible for another child's life, then it is just logical to make those parents aware of any deviation from the original plans.
Dad spent so much time looking for you that, one day, when he was making his rounds around Brackenridge Park, another driver hit dad from the back in his black and white Ford. This accident caused him whip lash and it made his job as a map maker, difficult. He was not able to bend his neck easily in order to look into that machine to draw those maps at Fort Sam.
Dad applied for a medical disability and he was not given a full disability. He had to do something with his time and so he went into business for himself. We rented an old store with the house in back of it in the West side of San Antonio. I'll ask mom the name of the street and edit this soon. But it was pretty neat and I saw dad getting himself involved in a project that kept him busy. Originally he had wanted to buy the place over on Bandera and Woodlawn and make a Laundry mat store but that did not pan out. So dad took over this little store and I remember we sold candies and old furniture. Dad would restore these old, antique chairs and sell them. I remember there was a refrigerator for meats and even an electric meat trimmer. He did use it once to trim a brisket. I still remember to this day how he did it. I also recall how he was redoing the little house in back. The entire floor was taken out and I remember walking through the dirt inside the house. Dad had a lot to do now and it kept him busy.
Dad also started his own franchise of a candy company through Tio Ramiro's candy store from Reynosa, México but here we called it RoMar for Rogelio and Marina, and we had all the recipe's to make Tio's candy. I am not sure if this occurred before we had the furniture store or after. We rented a place next door to Tio Pilo's little store and that was our 'fabrica' where we made the candy and packaged it and then dad would go out and sell it to little stores. I would help mom mix the ingredients together in large plastic bowls and help her package the end product into bags or into little plastic cups. Dad taught me to use the sealer machine that would melt the plastic of the packs. I would also go with dad downtown to buy the boxes, the little Daisy cups, the rubber bands, the labels for the boxes with the company's name printed on it. It was fun and I learned a lot doing that.
Just recently, I went with my friend to buy some apples downtown (my husband and I made candy apples for our daughter's debate club) and the store we went to was right across the street from where I went with dad to buy the boxes. I was so overwhelmed when I saw that place that I even dropped my purse because I could see this 12 year old little girl walking into that place with her dad and it has been 36 years ago. The chills of that thought/image must have made me drop my purse.
What to do after you left was an overwhelming task. Now that dad did not have his job with the civil service just made things worse and that is when he became depressed. These projects he attempted just were not replacing you and it did not work for very long.
Dad spent so much time looking for you that, one day, when he was making his rounds around Brackenridge Park, another driver hit dad from the back in his black and white Ford. This accident caused him whip lash and it made his job as a map maker, difficult. He was not able to bend his neck easily in order to look into that machine to draw those maps at Fort Sam.
Dad applied for a medical disability and he was not given a full disability. He had to do something with his time and so he went into business for himself. We rented an old store with the house in back of it in the West side of San Antonio. I'll ask mom the name of the street and edit this soon. But it was pretty neat and I saw dad getting himself involved in a project that kept him busy. Originally he had wanted to buy the place over on Bandera and Woodlawn and make a Laundry mat store but that did not pan out. So dad took over this little store and I remember we sold candies and old furniture. Dad would restore these old, antique chairs and sell them. I remember there was a refrigerator for meats and even an electric meat trimmer. He did use it once to trim a brisket. I still remember to this day how he did it. I also recall how he was redoing the little house in back. The entire floor was taken out and I remember walking through the dirt inside the house. Dad had a lot to do now and it kept him busy.
Dad also started his own franchise of a candy company through Tio Ramiro's candy store from Reynosa, México but here we called it RoMar for Rogelio and Marina, and we had all the recipe's to make Tio's candy. I am not sure if this occurred before we had the furniture store or after. We rented a place next door to Tio Pilo's little store and that was our 'fabrica' where we made the candy and packaged it and then dad would go out and sell it to little stores. I would help mom mix the ingredients together in large plastic bowls and help her package the end product into bags or into little plastic cups. Dad taught me to use the sealer machine that would melt the plastic of the packs. I would also go with dad downtown to buy the boxes, the little Daisy cups, the rubber bands, the labels for the boxes with the company's name printed on it. It was fun and I learned a lot doing that.
Just recently, I went with my friend to buy some apples downtown (my husband and I made candy apples for our daughter's debate club) and the store we went to was right across the street from where I went with dad to buy the boxes. I was so overwhelmed when I saw that place that I even dropped my purse because I could see this 12 year old little girl walking into that place with her dad and it has been 36 years ago. The chills of that thought/image must have made me drop my purse.
What to do after you left was an overwhelming task. Now that dad did not have his job with the civil service just made things worse and that is when he became depressed. These projects he attempted just were not replacing you and it did not work for very long.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)