May La Tejanita Cotton Princess Joins the Army 20, 21

“May I please have this dance?” “Well…..I” After the third time one of my girlfriends nudged me in the ribs, “Have you looked up at him? He is gorgeous. Get up and go to the very back of the dance floor and your date won’t be able to see you.” Nervously, I got up and I looked at the most beautiful blue eyes and long eyelashes I had ever seen. His hand on the small of my back he led me to the dance floor. The next dance started, The Twelfth of Never, he took me in his arms, “Will you marry me, will you be my wife?” I was nervous before, but now I was shocked and embarrassed. My knees felt weak. I didn’t know if I could be able to run away fast enough. The handsome soldier turned out to be Richard Barr one of my Instructors in the base waiting to be deployed to Vietnam. We met July 4th and were married on August 8, 1964. Not long after we were married, I was assigned to a new post in Fort Meade, Maryland. Meanwhile, Richard kept appealing his orders to go to Vietnam. We were newlyweds so Richard would come to visit me, and we would spend time in Baltimore Maryland and a couple of times we took the bus to the city of Chicago. A year later to my surprise I got pregnant and did not want to leave the Army, until I completed my term. In the meantime, Richard was reprieved from his standby orders to Vietnam and allowed to serve out his term at Fort Benjamin Harrison. We bought a beautiful two-bedroom mobile home and a Plymouth car from one of our friends who was not so lucky and had to go Vietnam. Our daughter Desiree was born at the military hospital and we brought her home and lived there happily until Richards’s term of duty was up and we boarded the Yellow Zephyr and came by train to San Francisco. I missed the Army, the structure, the pageantry, carrying the American flag while parading the colors to the beat of the military band. I missed the sound of Reveille waking me up in the morning and Taps the mournful sound I heard putting me to sleep at night. I had left the spirts of my mom and dad behind me, but not the values that they taught me, a belief in God, love of family and a good work ethic that helped me to make quick and lasting friends. My wish for an education is still with me, and its realization has come in some very amazing ways. My lifelong wish took me out of the cotton fields and like the Mystical Bird in my dad’s stories I have been able to fly and to travel to faraway places. Richard and my daughter Desiree nurtured my desire to learn and taught me many things, especially to love. Sadly, the Twelfth of Never, came too soon. I lost Richard on October 13, 2006. I was his caregiver for the last seven years. No longer the dashing soldier on the dance floor that night long ago, yet I learned to love him even more. His spirit still lives with me and my daughter Desiree in memories of a wonderful life.