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.
