Christina De Leon:  

My life story- By: Christina Barragan-De Leon Thank you Lord, for such an interesting journey so far. no complaints-I wouldn't want to change a thing, because of what I have been through in my lifetime has made me who I am today. I was born in E.L.A. -Belvedere, CA, Santa Martha Hospital. The hospital still stands today. I was born Sept. 30th, 1959. I have three beautiful sisters. Norma, Diana & Lucy. I also have two brothers named Dave and Ernie and all of my siblings are still living. None of us have moved out of state, we keep in touch and share good times together., when possible. We eventually moved from Bell, CA. I don't remember it well, I was only three. We moved to Huntington Park CA. where most of my childhood memories lay. We sure had lot's of love from both our parents and ALL I remember are good times and good childhood memories. We didn't have much, which I learned later in my years, my two sisters Norma and Diana would or could make something out of nothing or not much, Dad would leave money for us and my sisters Norma and Diana had a way with making the best of everything--they are incredible. We lived off of 61st street in HP, I was going to Miles Ave, and met alot of my good friends today, me and annette became good friends and i would either be at her house or she would be at mine, i remember annette a. would make the best root beer floats in the summers. Once we got to Junior high at Gage, she set me up with my first boy-friend, we grew up in the same area and it turned out nice learning and growing up together, we had had two sons Tony Jr & Gabriel, my sons dad was a good father to his sons and always visited their schools, plays etc. he made sure both sons were in sports and made sure to take our sons on various trips, excursions and even fishing--He passed in 1995, and it was the first death in our family-it impacted our entire family. We can't change what is already inevitable in our lives, we can only appreciate what we have, what we live & hope for better days ahead. Live as if it is the last time we will see family-that way we will/can apprciate it.My sons Dad eventually passed away in 1995. He was a spiritual person and many learned a lot from him, God took him home, because of him many have choosen to live a Godly life. R.I.P. It seemed like we all had the best summers. Going to school was nice, we always seemed to wear great looking clothes. Mom, I remember would sell clothes at home to make extra money. I remember too that mom and dad would save the blue chip stamps and purchase real nice things for the family from the catalog which was handed out at the market. The car dad drove was extra sharp, I don't remember EVER wanting or needing anything, because to me we always had enough and we were so happy growing up that I never knew any different. We attended the purdiest church in the city, Saint Matthias Church on Florence Ave. My sister Diana ended up getting married there. I made my first holy communion there, many weddings have taken place at this church, when I would attend I remember feeling dizzy, sometimes when I would start to smell the insence, I would begin to feel faint, I would tell Norma, I am going to faint, then all I remember was waking up on the floor looking up at the faces of my family looking worried, I never did find out why this would happen to me. I grew out of it and it did not seem to happen after I grew up. We have many family functions together. Both of our wonderful loving parents are still alive and living in Sun City, CA. Dad will be 80 this year Oct. 09, and Mom just turned 79 this past May. Both parents take care of eachother and pass the time relaxing and enjoying retirment. I know when some people read my story they might only imagine living in a home where six kids and two parents could live happy even though there wasn't much extra's. Dad worked two jobs and I not once heard Dad complain or miss work. My dad Leandro never missed coming home or in other words never stayed out- not once since being married to my mom Herminia. She, had said" This is very special to her that Dad never stayed out". He always remained close to her and to the family. I only, remember of one time that my parents argued. and I never heard my mom yell or dad. We were by the Observatory in Los Angeles, and that was the only time I felt sad growing up., cause of a dispute. My dad would take all of us six kids everywhere like every weekend. We would take lunch and snacks and off we went. To the Beach, or Las Cascadas in LA, or to see Las Vacas, or maybe to the zoo. One thing about my dad he always put money away to take us all to the best place in the world each year... The Pomona Fair! It was and still is my favorite place to go. I started taking my two sons there. Anyway, growing up in Huntington Park, CA. was fun. We would stay out all day in the summer time, playing with our friends and exploring life, either going to HPHS to the swimming pool or walking to Salt Lake Park and having fun the entire day! There was never a dull moment in our lives. Especially when the Salt Lake Park Fair came around we had a blast. If anyone went to the fair and ate the food and corndogs and rode the rides and breathed the fresh air, just having a good time with good friends and family was what life was about. We all had skates and would skate for days up and down the sidewalks, skinning our knees left and right- we would fall and get right back up. If we weren't skating we were riding bikes up and down the streets all over the place, sometimes we would even go into the next city which seemed so far away. Sometimes I felt like we might not make it back when riding our bikes but we always did. We watched over eachother all the time. Weekends were fun too, having two older sisters who would invite you to tag along if you wanted to go, of course I always did, we would either go shopping on Pacific Blvd, or drive to Los Alleys in L.A. or lots of times we would go and buy the latest clothes at Mambos. My sisters knew where to go and shop! Cruising the Blvd. was fun too. I once found my little sister sitting on the curb at the end of our street on 61st in HP. she was full of ants, I hugged her and brushed all the ants off of her, she was crying - she had wandered off and stopped on the corner sat down and cried, it was a good thing she did not wonder off further. Someone was watching over my little sister Clucky. Which is a nick name I gave her. She is the best little sister and she has always been a good sister to me. We would meet the nice neighbors., and would stay away from the mean ones, we would return to the nice ones near by and hang out or make paper dolls and play all day talk and eat hot dogs in the Summertime which when you are young felt like an eternity. Our house was small, six kids to one bedroom so eventually the landlord built another bedroom, where us four girls went., we had bunkbeds, and my two brothers had a room of their own. Now, we finally had some privacy. We have many stories to share. One time my sisters and I noticed a shadow in the window---see our house sat way in the back of the property and it was darker then the front so, stray cats would wonder up and down the roofs, once we could swear there was a stranger peeping into our bedroom window, all of us were screaming to our mom and dad, only our bedroom door was closed and so was theirs, so -- the bravest sister jumped down from the bunkbeds and ran like a deer to call pop! Her name is lucy, yes- the youngest did this for all of us, dad got up in his underwear which he always did, and said "que paso"! We all yelled and cried at the same time and said there is a stranger looking into our window. Just then I am sure now that dad figuered out exactly what was going on. dad said--"look at the window and don't take your eyes off" - so, we did just as dad told us- before we knew it dad was brave and went into the back yard with a broom- and he chased the cat off the roof which was reflecting to our bedroom window, we saw the cat run by in the window then we saw dad pass by in his underwear~the trama was over! It was a CAT! WE TALK ABOUT THIS STORY-- OVER AND OVER. I decided to sleep with my sister Norma for a couple days just cause it felt safe with her on the bottom bunk., just like I had after watching the EXORCIST. Ugh-. We lived in the same house for I would say: nine years or so. I remember I was like six and watching tv after President Kennedy was shot. We all attended Miles Ave Elementary School. The Food at the School was so good. Mom was great- she would make sure we all made it to school each day. Since were all different ages, so- she tells us as soon as she would take one of us to school it was time to pick the other up. Both, my two sons ended up also attending the Elementary School I had gone too. Mom, was always busy and hardly ever had time for herself. She ran the whole household in the day time, fed us, took us all to school and kept the home safe and sound. Dad, was so busy with two jobs I remember. He worked hard to keep food and clothes on our backs and keep the bills paid. I would be the greeter- I would hear his 64 Volkswagon drive up and I would run out side to grab his lunch box, and give my dad a kiss on his cheek. Even, as a little girl I always was happy when my dad would make it back home after a long long day at work, I did this for a long time I remember. Summers were great for us girls- even, if we didn't always have some place to go- we would simply lay out in our back yard, lay down the biggest towel we could find- we would pack on the baby oil and bring out the radio and snacks and we were in business. We would turn on the water hose and listen to Diana Ross or Michel Jackson or any Motown we could find, the Beatles too. We did this many times and to me it was all the same we had a good time together me and m...Expand for more