Tammy Bemis:
CLASS OF 1988
Hood River Valley High SchoolClass of 1988
Hood river, OR
Tammy's Story
I was born at Hood River Hospital in 1970 & started my first grade year of school living with my grandparents on Glass Dr. & started at Pine Grove Elementary. By the time I was in 4th grade I was back living with my mom on Sherman St in Hood River & went to May Street Elementary. We then some time moved up to the height's behind Rosaurse Grocery. During my 6th grade year we moved out to Odell & I started school at Wy'east Elementary to finish the 6th grade. Then on to 7th grade at Wy'East Junior High School. The same year I was to start 9th grade they had decided to take the 9th grade up to the High School. So I started my 9th grade year at Hood River Valley High School.. My family left Hood River area when I was like 14 or 15 years old but I stayed behind. I had to start working a job as soon as I could to support myself. By the time I was 17 I was working 2 full time jobs one of them at the packing house in Odell & the other was at the new McDonalds in Hood River. One weekend I ended up getting a Sunday off & decided I hadn't seen my mom in about 2- 3 years so I went to visit for the day in Eugene Oregon on my way back home it was pouring down rain & my windshield wipers had quit working. My car ended up sliding off of I-5 & flipped upside down & stopped right under 3 big trees. So I got a leave of absence from one job & transfer from the other planning on buying another car then going back home to Hood River. But instead meet this really cute guy & we got a place together then he ended up going to work one night & never came back home. After that I called my dad in Goldendale Washington & he told me to come live with him I wouldn't have to work & could go back to school & graduate, he would take care of me. At 18 years old I moved to Washington started back in school when a couple months later I had gotten really sick had to be admitted into the hospital right away. After the 1st week they decided to do surgery then I was there for another week after that. After I was released I had to go back to the hospital every day for awhile to be hooked up to IV for a few hours. When I went to get back into school they told me there was no way I would have enough credits to graduate, so.back to working I went. Two years later at 20 years old I had to have surgery again. When I turned 21 I went back to work & was a cocktail waitress at the only place in town with a live band on the weekend, My dad & I had gotten closer than we had ever been during my surgeries. My dad was also an alcoholic & when he wasn't out working on the rail road he liked going to the bars drinking, dancing & having good times. He was an awesome guy, every one in town loved him he was always there to give a helping hand to any one that he knew & even the one he didn't know. My 2nd night back to work at the lounge serving...Expand for more
alcohol my dad was there drinking with his friends all evening he tried talking me into loaning him $20 so he could go get a half case of beer & come to my house when I got off work to party. I kept telling him no dad no I just wanna go home & go to bed. At closing my dads table was the only ones left & the girls I worked with decided for me to make him leave. I got off work at 3 am home in bed by 4 am & then woke up at 5 am to be told my dad was dead. To this day that has been the hardest thing for me in my entire life. The hurt never goes away 22 years later it still seems like just yesterday. He had just turned 41 the month before. About a year & a half after my dad dying I had thrown a guy living in my house & his stuff out then went & sat at my dads grave for like 2 1/2 hours crying about how I much I was in love with that guy that left me in Eugene & asking that he come find me. I get a phone call that same night & it was that guy from Eugene that went to work & never returned home. It had been 5 years since he had gone to work & never came back. I was 23 now almost 24. And well, 3 days later we were married & living in Medford Oregon. Which ended up being a total disaster. We weren't even together a year before I ended up with nothing. I lost my house & property in Washington, my 2 cars & 2 trucks, my cash, everything I had from when I was growing up & everything my dad & I had ever worked for. I didn't even have one picture left, I haven't had a picture of my dad since. Then this guy & I end up in Springfield where he ends up taking off & left me again. This time with no where to go or no place to stay. Things got pretty rough for me & the people in this town were way different from any one I had ever known in Hood River or Goldendale. I ended up being in Springfield for several years not once claiming any one I knew as a friend, not one of the people I knew there could be trusted for anything. Eventually I heard from this guy I was married to a couple of times talking about us hooking back up but he never would show up & when he finally did about 10 years later he has some chick hand me divorce papers to sign. Well here it is another 10 years later & we've been back together over a year so far this time. He says he loves me & will never leave again that he was young, dumb & messed up. But now.....I don't think I really even want to be with him. I wasted over half my life thinking I was in love with him & waiting on him to come back for me. And now he's back again & I don't think I was really in love with him like I thought I was. That maybe I never really had the chance to get to know him well enough to know that I wasn't.
Update 2014:
He left again, we were together longer this time than any other time. I wont be waiting on him to come back for me. I am finally over him.
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