Spring Semester

   January arrived with many new year's resolutions as well as my birthday, my new nephew Brodie, and the beginning of another semester at school. I was nervous about this semester because I would be taking two classes that I knew would be tough. I love history but have never made good grades in the course. I was also taking government which was even worse. The semester was rounded off by a dance course which would complete my visual and performing arts requirement and my final English comp class.
   Stephen had been talking about moving to our new property but had not made up his mind. There was nothing on the property but the outside kitchen that we had built. I knew there was no way we could make the move. I told him that once the semester started we would not be able to move until it ended. So January meant that we were staying where we were until at least May.
    He was unhappy working for other people and never having time for his own company. He had vacation time at work but every time he asked to take some time off they said they needed him. He had been working non-stop for 14 years and he was burned out. I just wanted to hurry up and finish my degree so I could get a job in journalism and let him stay home to work in his shop and build his company.
    In February he was again talking about moving so I told him that as soon as the semester was over we would go. I applied for school in El Paso so that I could enroll for the summer semester. It was the closest college to our property outside of Sierra Blanca, just over an hour away. I knew Stephen was pretty serious and he wanted to make a trip out to the property to start building a shop and house. Only having weekends off made it very hard. Each trip was an 18 hour drive (9 hours each way).
    I had to miss some days at school and began to worry about whether or not I would pass some of my classes. I was only allowed to miss five classes and I had missed seven. The semster was nearing an end and finals were just around the corner. Stephen and I had discussed it and he was going to give his notice the week before my finals. Once he gave notice he took off a few extra days at work to get some things done on the property. The shop was currently nothing more than a pole barn. No walls, roof or floor- just a frame and the house was only partially built without the trim boards, no inside walls, no plumbing, and part of the floor was still not completed. I was worried about the move.
   Stephen decided to head out west on the day of my final for history. I had to arrange to take my final early and had no time to study. I was so afraid that I would fail. When my grades finally came in I was surprised. I received an A in dance and a B in all three other classes. I was enrolling for the summer semester in El Paso although I was still unsure if we would make the move.
    By the end of May we were still unsure if we would be moving or staying so I added Austin back on my list for school just in case I would need to attend the summer there. We put the house up for rent and when we were contacted by thirty or more people, we knew that we would be making the move. It would all have to be done quickly because the summer semester started the middle of June and it was close to the first already. So we began to pack up. Everyone was shocked that we were going to be moving so suddenly. I was worried too because nothing was finished... we would soon find out just how hard things may be.

A Wonderful Christmas

Christmas was just around the corner and Ronnie seemed to be improving. Tests were coming back with a decrease in cancer cells and blood work was looking great. We waited patiently for the final results, expected just before Christmas. Everyone had been praying for the family and the funds raised during "Medicinal Tunes" had kept the bills paid for Ronnie and Ashley. The Hyatt had continued to pay his insurance through donations from various employees and they were holding his job in hopes of his return....(like I said before, great people!)
Stephen's hair was getting unruly as he refused to cut it until Ronnie returned to work. I guess it was the only way he felt he could do something in this helpless situation. His intentions were to donate his hair to one of the organizations that make wigs for cancer patience; once it was long enough.
On the day the test results came in, the entire family had reason to celebrate. All tests showed Ronnie to be cancer free. It would be a great Christmas for us all. Ronnie would still have to continue on pain medications until his body recuperated and the stint in his heart was removed. This would be several more months.
A few weeks later he was told he could return to work. Stephen's hair was not quite long enough to donate but I was glad to see it cut. Ronnie, who had lost all of his hair in the first weeks of chemo, now had to wait for his to grow back.
The baby was due in less than a month and I was glad that Ronnie would be there for the delivery. Our family had survived this test and I felt that, in some ways, it had brought us all closer. Even though, it would not be long before we would make the final decision to move to our land in west Texas.

Thanksgiving in The Chihuahuan Desert

      Thanksgiving would be much different this year. My two daughters and my son-in-law were now living in Tennessee, my oldest son had to work for the entire holiday and through out the weekend, my middle son was headed to Michigan to spend time with our cousins and my youngest son was with his Grandparents. This left us home alone. Our friend Jim had just delivered his son to the dorms of St. Edwards University and found himself alone as well.
     We decided to head out to west Texas to try Thanksgiving on our land. Stephen and Jim discussed building a kitchen on the property with the materials from one of Jim's shops. So we loaded it up along with enough food to feed an army. Stephen's mom came with us. She was excited because she had purchased twenty-two acres beside us but this would be her first time seeing it.
     Once we arrived, we set up camp and I gathered wood. During a previous visit to our property we had assigned each other names. I mentioned before that one of my sons was nicknamed Billyjack- well, I had earned the name "Gatherer of Wood".
     The night was beautiful but freezing cold. We could not get close enough to the fire and Stephen's mom, Virginia, was freezing to death. We gave her a ton of blankets but sleeping in the tent was not going to work for her. Jim made her a bed by the fire and she survived the night. Stephen and I slept in the truck, starting it every hour or so to get warm. The following morning the temperature gage in my truck read seven degrees. The Sake (Japanese wine) had frozen solid... now that's cold!
     That morning we put the coffee on. It was the best coffee I had in a long time, maybe because it was hot and I was cold. We then put the turkey on and allowed it to cook all day. It was very tender with a nice smoke flavor. We also had a big pot of beans, Jim's homemade pickles, and some kind of greens. The guys had spent the day working on the outside kitchen. They ran into several problems but never gave up and by nightfall there was a structure that we could sleep in. Stephen and I still ended up in the truck because it was just that cold! We were later joined by Virginia and Jim slept in a chair almost in the camp fire.
    The following morning, just before packing up, we all talked about the things we wanted to do. We decided to come out again in a week or so to start working on improvements to the land. We went over some of the things we had discussed previously; one being the name of the ranch. I still was in disagreement but had been outvoted by the males.... The property was to be called "El Chupacabra Ranch". Jim wanted us to vote against having Llamas on the property. We refused and said anyone who wants them can have them. Of course, we didn't want Llamas either but it was funny watching Jim squirm over the idea of them being on the property. He hates the things.

A New Way of Thinking

    Due to all of the chaos of summer, I ended up dropping my fall semester. I spent that time working on a fundraiser for my nephew to help with all of the medical bills he was incurring while fighting the cancer. By November we had worked something out with the Hyatt Lost Pines... a group of amazing, generous people... we would use their facilities for the fundraising event. Former Texas State Senator Gonzalo Barrientos would  be our M.C. Everything seemed to be coming together. Several bands volunteered their time and talent, rounding out the event which I called "Medicinal Tunes."

 

The Flyer came together nicely!!!

    Just before the event Ronnie was being pummeled by his treatments and we were afraid that he would be too weak to attend the fundraiser. The Hyatt prepared for him by making recliners available for him and Ashley (who was about 7 months pregnant by then) so they could be comfortable. 

    The morning of the event Stephen and his Dad went out to the Hyatt and started to cook the meat... almost thirty briskets and over one hundred pounds of sausage. I had a shoot that morning so I rushed off. After completing my shoot I had to get my two of my sons so we could go out to set up.  The Hyatt had an entire staff of volunteers who all wanted to help Ronnie so we were blessed that when we arrived most of the tables and chairs were already set up. My boys started to cover the tables and help unload things. Everything was coming together nicely. 

    The Hyatt provided us with a cashier and a coordinator so all I had to do is keep him informed of how things were going to be done and he would be sure everything was ready in advance. The sound guy they provided free of charge was amazing as well. This left me free to concentrate on my speech and introduction of the former Senator. I was nervous because I had never handled an event like this on my own. Thankfully I had an amazing media teacher who believed in me and allowed me to believe in myself so.... I was ready to rock!

    Ronnie's friends began to arrive and everything looked amazing. I met with Gonzalo as he arrived. He was tired from his dedication the day before. His wife had passed away the year before and the city of Austin created the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center in her honor. I attended the event and knew it had drained Gonzalos' energy and put a strain on his spirit. 

                                      A few images from that event- in dedication to her memory....

 

Speaking fondly of his wife...

A moment of silence and remembrance...

    Gonzalo, being a man who loves his community and is faithful to his friends, was there for us. His words of encouragement meant a lot to our family and especially Ronnie. We are so grateful that he could be our M.C. When he had to leave I took over. That was pretty scarey but we got through it and the night was perfect. Ronnie was so glad to see all of his friends.... all at once. He had an amazing time even though he was exhausted from treatment. The bands were amazing and the food was great- and gone!   

   After all of this, we realized that life is too short to be working all the time.  We wanted to experience life. Our number could be called at any moment and this is not the life we wanted to remember. We made a plan to change everything that we hated about our lives and start all over. Every day's a new day!