March 27, 1969 (Chapter 1 of My Life)

Is the day I was born to Elvia and Ramon Alfaro, two migrant workers living in Homestead, Florida. My Father was born in Texas (I think) and my mother was born in Mexico (for real). My parents already had 3 other children - Diana 4, Isabel 3, and Antonio 2. On Thanksgiving Day 1969 my father died in a car accident and my mother (19 years old) was left alone with 4 children. Since my father was from Texas and his family lived in Texas, my mother took him to Texas to bury him. My mother stayed in Texas to go to school and we (Diana, Isabel, Antonio and I) stayed with our maternal grandparents in Florida. I don't remember too much of those early years but somehow we ended up in Texas just in time for me to start Kindergarten. By this time my mother had received some education and had even purchased a 4 bedroom 2 bath home with a carport and nice yard in a very nice neighborhood. I attended Kindergarten through 4th grade in Edinburg, Texas. Then we moved back to Florida with our Grandparents and my mother stayed in Texas. Everytime we moved our Grandmother was with us but sometimes my grandfather was already in Florida. My grandparents had 9 children 4 (Alicia, Bert, Leo and Henry) were still at home when they started raising us in 1969. We all grew up like brothers and sisters. There was such a difference in how we lived in Florida and in Texas. In Texas my mother had a nice house in a nice neighborhood and we went to a nice public school. In Florida we lived in a Migrant Labor Camp for Farm Workers and went to an overcrowded, crappy public school. I don't remember many details but I do know we were always taken care of and loved and I was a happy kid.

This is a picture of my father. This is the only picture I have so I thought I would share it.