Isabel has worked all her life; well practically all of her life. Not because she has to (she is independently wealthy, no!) but rather because she likes to, well, that is not correct either.

Sometimes she has had to; it is a case of "too much month at the end of the money." I'll come back to that later.

What got me to thinking about "her dedication to work" was her recent retirement, her strike, and re-hiring; all of which occurred within five minutes, if that much time transpired at all.

To hear Isabel tell the story; on 8/29/97 she went to what was to be her last day at the Children's Center, the place of her employment for the last fourteen years. She was resigned to finally retire and as soon as she left the house that morning I put an "ad" on our garage bulletin which read; "Job Opening - Home Maker - Full Time - Zero Pay - Good Benefits - Apply Inside" When she got home that evening I met her at the door and said, "Sorry, if you came to see about the job opening, its been taken." Her answer, "Sorry, but I am not unemployed."

So she will be back to work; right after Labor Day.

What happened is that for several weeks the rumors were hot and heavy that the Center was going to close; there was other evidence such as the copy machine was broken and did not get fixed, the delivery people stopped delivering, etc. Finally on or about Friday August 22, 1997, the owner, Anita Erickson announced that she had sold the place, the whole place; the Center and the over a hundred apartments to an unnamed buyer. Yes, the Center would close on August 29, 1997. Then things started to happen; on 8/25/97 TV Channels 4 and 7 ran prime time news stories on the "famous" Center closing. On 8/27/97 the Albuquerque Journal ran a story headed, Day-Care Center May Close. Journal Staff Writer, Aaron Baca, said "... one of Albuquerque's largest and oldest child-care centers, said Tuesday it is closing its doors at the end of the week.

The closure means a last-minute scrambling for hundreds of working parents to find alternative care for their kids, and that dozens of workers will have to look for new jobs - unless a new operator can be found for the 25-year-old business."

Well, by the end of the week a new operator had indeed been found and on Friday Isabel came home, turned down my job offer and announced that she was not unemployed. I said, "Yea, but how about the promises you made?" The response, "Promises are made to be broken." So she'll be back to work on Tuesday, right after Labor Day.

Like I say, Isabel, has worked all her life. I tried to implement my macho instinct (k'emb&p) but obviously failed. Of course, I worked for 55 years; from 1941 to 1996, sometimes two jobs at once, but that is another story. Sticking to IDC's case.....

Isabel started teaching in 1945, that is the year she graduated from High School. She went to Adams State in Alamosa, Colorado for the summer term and came home with a Temporary Certificate that allowed her to teach in the Taos County Schools that fall. There was a shortage of teachers right after the start and during WWII. Isabel kept going to either Adams State or Highlands University at Las Vegas, NM for the summer sessions and taught in Rio Lucio, Vadito, or Vallecitos. That last place deserves special treatment, i.e. a separate chapter, and you will find it elsewhere.

In the meantime, me, the macho guy, was away at West Point. Isabel had made one of her promises and we were "somewhat engaged" all that time. On June 6th. the day after graduation we were married. I think we got a month's pay in advance which we used to get married on and what little was left we used to drive our new Chevvy home by way of Greenville, Mississippi, my first station.

After a month's leave in Peñasco we reported to Greenville for Basic Flying School. A second lieutenant earned $295 per month in those days, plus $100 for flying pay, $78 for housing, and $48 for rations if you lived off base. Actually housing and rations were paid only if you lived off base.

All of this is by way of saying that during this time Isabel had to work.

She went to what had to be the only Catholic School in the whole state of Mississippi and applied for a job and was hired on the spot. I believe her pay was $90 per month. So how do you like them apples? But guess what? It did put food on the table; what was left over from my military Direct Deposit to our account at the Highland Falls National Bank just was not enough! So the sweet mama pulled us through. She would do it again in Houston the following year; though in a different way. As was usual we were broke when we transferred to Ellington AFB for the Intermediate Flying Course. We found a small apartment attached to the landlady's home, Mrs. Mutriex, at 223 Dillon Street, just off Telephone Road in Garden Villas. The few dollars we had, we used to put gas in the car so I could go to the Base; we did not have anything left for food. When I got home, though there was food in the refrigerator and a hot dinner waiting for me. Isabel had walked to the General Store at Garden Villas and told the owner we were new in town, in the Air Force, and broke. He gave us credit. It turns out that for some reason I got ahead of the rest of the West Point and Annapolis grads who were in my Flying class and we got into our next town several days ahead. Most of the rest were just as broke as we were and would plan on staying with us for a couple days until they found an apartment. In Houston they all got credit at the same General Store when they found out Isabel had broken the ice.

But this item is about Isabel always working or almost always working. During the time I was in Korea she did not work but that is when Dolores was born. After I got out of the Air Force and went on to Sandia Labs in late 1954 Isabel went to work in the Parochial Schools of Albuquerque; first at Holy Ghost School. We lived at 1131 Morris NE in Albuquerque, Holy Ghost is on Arizona SE, and Mary Francis was on San Pedro SE. Isabel drove from Morris with Dolores; dropped her off at Mary Francis and then on to Holy Ghost. Cecilia was born while we lived at Morris in 1959. We moved to 7105 Pickard NE in 1962 and by this time Isabel had transferred to Heights Catholic on Lomas NE.

Then in 1964 we went to Peru where Monica was born. I guess this is the second period when Isabel did not work.

After we returned from Peru she went back to Heights Catholic and much later transferred to Annunciation. At Heights Catholic she and Mrs. Vann led the fight to get the lay teachers at the state Catholic Schools covered by Social Security. They had not been until then, so you see the sweet mama was somewhat of a "suffratte" and labor organizer as well.

Sometimes the sweet mama worked and the month was over before the money. Like when we were in Guatemala. There she did not look for the job, rather the job looked for her and Isabel wound up teaching at Maya International School at least part of the two years of our assignment.

In 1981 we returned to the States from Guatemala and shortly thereafter Isabel began her "long journey, her love-hate affair" with the Children's Center. Many times I have heard her say, "One of these days I am just going to walk out!" Then some parent, sometimes a father but more often a mother, would send her a note, flowers, a cake or a pie or just stop by to say thanks and Isabel would once again get that old incentive.

I know that it has not always been "peaches and cream," to coin a phrase. There have been times when she has fired an aide or called a parent and told them to come and take their *#@^&!% child home and not come back!

So the sweet mama is tough, you say? I haven't said anything about when she took on the Principal at Annunciation School. That is another story, I think Monica knows all about that, that will be in another chapter. Other chapters will deal with Isabel at El Barrio when she taught at Dolores Gonzalez Elementary School in Barelas; another when she taught at Albuquerque High School and had to deal with gang members who took a liking to her 98 Oldsmobile and wanted to make a Low-Rider out of it; and yet another time when she taught English as a Second Language at Cold Springs Elementary in Maryland and learned her Cuban Experience.

For now, let me say, that Isabel does not do it for the money; sometimes she does it because the money runs out before the month, sometimes she does it for sheer love of it and calls it,

Hey! She finally quit on October 15, 1999!!! She walked out, just like she said she would.