Josephine:  A Desert Flower

 

This biography is on my mother, Josephine, who was born

in Sinton, San Patricio County, Texas.   My mother’s life is an interesting,

hard, but yet, beautiful life.

 

Childhood:

            My mother, whose full name is Josephine Garcia Martinez, spent

her childhood working in fields. She and her three brothers helped harvest

oranges, strawberries, peaches, cucumbers and plums in the fields. They

also cleaned cotton and sugar beets fields.  She recalls the work as being

hot, tiring, but sometimes fun. They would get to play around during their

breaks. My mother tells me that even though it was hard and sometimes

boring she really had no choice.  She had to help her parents support

the family.  She and her family also traveled to other states as a result of

work. My  mother said, “ The saddest thing about working was that we had

to miss school.  We use to cry when we found out that school had already

started back home.  We used to beg my mother to take us back home because

we wanted to go to school.  Thank God, my mother believed in education.”

 

When my mom was a child they did not have TV, phones, radio,

video games or such things. So she spent her days playing with her brothers.

They would wrestle, throw rocks, go skate boarding, play marbles, and make

mud pies.  They would even count the number of rail cars the train had as it

passed by.  Occasionally, they would get into fights with the neighborhood kids. 

Since my mother had no sisters she grew up as a Tomboy. She said,” Whatever

my brothers did, I did and even better.”

 

Junior High:

In junior high my mother had many goals. She wanted to succeed in

life and she wanted to go to college. Since many girls were getting into trouble

and my mother didn’t want to be a school drop out, she worked really hard in

school to prove to her mother that she could do just as good as her brothers

and perhaps even better.  Her mother was afraid she would get messed up

and wanted to take her out of school. But my mother refused to drop out

and cried out to her own mother to let her stay in school.  My mother

was positive that she would not get messed up, and that she would get

somewhere in life. My mother’s determination helped her to succeed. 

 

Also, my mother’s teachers helped her along the way by giving her

the confidence that sometimes she needed for herself.  She remembered one

incident where her classmates were making fun of her because she was so

serious about her work but her teacher stood up for her.  In fact, my mother

said that her teacher told her classmates that of all the students in her class;

she was the only one that was going to graduate.  The students that laughed

at her eventually dropped out and did not graduate from high school. 

 

 

High School:

            In high school my mom was selected to be in the National Honor

Society her sophomore year, as a result of her good grades and behavior. 

During her senior year she was nominated to be a homecoming queen candidate.  

Although she didn’t make it she was very proud for being nominated. She

also participated in track and field during her sophomore year. My mom

says that she and her teammates and were pioneers because they were the

first girls to be able to be in track because they didn't have track for girls

back then. My mom placed 2nd in district in field events. She also participated

in Future Homemakers of America, where she served as Treasurer. She was

Vice President of the pep squad her Junior/Senior year. She was Secretary

of the Student Council, and she graduated as an honor student and ranked 7tth

in her class.

 

Her Life Today:

            My mother today works as a computer instructor at Del Mar college. She

teaches keyboarding and computer applications to both high school and college

students. The person she most admires is Jesus Christ.  “He is the most important

person in my life because he paved the way so that I could live a successful life,”

my mom says. She also admires both George W and George H. Bush for their

contribution to better our world and because they are Texans.  My mother’s goal

for the future is to start her own business. “There’s a scripture from the Word of God

that says that “without a vision or dream people will perish.”  Everyone should have a

vision or dream to keep them striving forward in life,” says my mom.

 

My mother’s family origins are that her mother and her ancestors were

Spaniards from Spain, and her father’s ancestors were of Indian decent.   My

mom has three children. Her first-born is her very beautiful daughter, Corinna

Ann Garcia, who is now 24 years old. My mother named her Corinna, which means

handmaiden.  Her older daughter had been her right hand that helped her

when she could not be home to care for her younger children because she had

to both work and go to school.  Her second child is her son Samuel Garcia, who

is now 19 years old. She named him Samuel, which means, “heard of God.”  The

name fits perfect because my mom says that he was an answer to prayer.  Her third

child is I, Valerie Josephine Garcia.  I am 14 today. Valerie means “strength or

valor” and it also means “courage”. My name also has meaning because when my

 mother was going through hard times; I was there to encourage her.  When I was

little, my mother would be sad and have her head down on the table.  It used to make

me feel so bad because she was so sad.  So I would walk up to her and say “ Mom,

smile, please don’t be sad.” I still do it today with my family and friends.  I never

really want anybody to be sad, so my name fits me just right. I think my mother

had the best choices for our names. I thank her so much for being there for us.

 

My mother’s idea of a perfect vacation would be a nice walk along the beach

in the Bahamas, with the waves washing over her feet and the sun setting in

the distance. She would stay in a fancy, flowery hotel with an outside shower

and the aroma of lavender and a room that had rose petals on her waterbed.

My mother’s favorite T.V shows are ”Everybody loves Raymond” on CBS

because he is hilarious. She also adores the classical movies “The Sound

Of Music” and “Little Women” because they are inspirational. 

 

I asked my mom to name three things that can symbolize her life and

she said that one would be, a cactus blooming in a desert. The pricks would

symbolize the harsh environment she grew up in, and the beautiful yellow

flower symbolizes that she became a beautiful person in character.  The

second symbol would be a guitar; she says with her guitar she can express

herself through song. The third symbol would be a Bible; she says the word

of God has been her strength and courage that she needed to survive through

difficult times.

 

            In conclusion, my mother’s life is different than any other ordinary

person’s life. She says through rough times and happy times, we, her children,

have given her strength, courage and love. I see my mother as someone I

can always turn to, even though, sometimes she cares too much about me.

I still appreciate her care and love. Even though my mother’s life and mine

are much different, deep down in our hearts we are alike. My mother and

I share a friendship and closeness that very few mothers and daughters share.

I know that when I see my mom and her hard life; I know that she gained

strength physically, mentally, and spiritually. I chose my mother to write a

biography simply because I feel that her life deserved to be written about.

I also feel that other people besides my family and me should know about her life.

 

Valerina Jo Garcia

 

Composed for my 8th grade English class

Mrs. Hernandez, English Teacher

Odem Junior High School

Odem, Texas

May, 2001

 

My Scrapbook  

 

[HOME]