Response Paper #3

As a great lover of the English language and having lived in Texas where there is a healthy mix of English and Spanish spoken always, I appreciate the respect and the need of Spanish and English in today's society.
I was a substitute teacher in the Monahans, TX school district and one of the classes I spent a lot of time with was in a bilingual class. The children in this class were English speaking, but came from homes where the prominent language spoken was Spanish. As the teacher in this class, I had to quickly learn some very key words and phrases to be able to communicate with some of the parents of these children. Those parents also learned and spoke to me in English as much as they were able. There is a mutual respect that comes from learning a different language in America and we can appreciate different cultures when learning those languages.
In Marquez's essay about respecting her families heritage, and the general public not being offended by their speaking Spanish, covers so many other underlying issues of respect by either party. Most Spanish speaking people as they live longer in the United States learn English, and the English speakers can compromise and try to learn Spanish or other languages to assist those desiring to be a part of our country into a smooth transition.
Diversity is what America is all about, and in that diversity is the different languages spoken fluently throughout our homes. Embracing our different cultures with respect to other cultures can lead to a more versatile vocabulary as well. Most of the words in the English language were borrowed from other languages anyhow. Learning different languages can broaden our horizons and open our minds. Let's not limit ourselves or others, branch out, learn a few key words and phrases from even your own background and culture, it will be fun.

The Song I Want Played at my Funeral

My taste in music is fairly vast and I love everything from Mozart to Metallica and even some of the newer pop music. My absolute favorite song of all time, which everyone knows is my favorite song and even my family calls it, "Angie's Song" or "Mom's Song," is a song by the GooGoo Dolls called, "Iris". Every one of the lyrics in this song means something to me but I think the chorus of the song most people recognize. "I don't want the world to see me, because I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken I just want you to know who I am." My life is not for the whole world to see, it is for my family foremost and my close friends. And it also represents the passion I have for life when in the third verse it states, "Yeah ya bleed just to know you're alive." I love everything about this song and listen to it at some point every day.

Standing up for What is Right

When I was about 13 years old, my family lived in a prominently white neighborhood in Jackson, Mississippi. An African-American family moved onto our street and they lived two houses down from our house. The son of the family was between the ages of my younger brother and me, so we played baseball and kickball a lot together. The neighbors that lived between our houses were very rude, racial, and did not want the family on our street. It became so bad that when we were playing and one of our balls would accidentally get thrown or kicked into the other neighbors' yard, they would keep our balls and not give them back. Finally, one day, when Cory, my brother and I were walking back to our house from Cory's house, the racial family began to yell at him and call him names. I told the man he was rude and then ran to tell my father who then told the neighbor that if he yelled racial slurs at us or the African American family again, he was going to call the police. Because of our stand with that family, we were practically forced to move and so was Cory's family.

Journal # 7

There are two very important men in my life that I admire equally. They are my father and my husband. My father is a man that puts his family and religious beliefs before EVERYTHING else in his life. Even though now as an adult I don't agree with many of his religious beliefs, I admire his dedication in how he has not wavered in his belief system through the years. My father's placement of family as an extremely important life attribute spilled over into my choice of a mate as well. My husband has a very close family and he now places his immediate family, the boys and me, above everything else in his life. Money is not that important and family and time spent with them is everything that is important in life. I knew that when I decided to settle down and have a family that my choice of a partner would have to include a strong family tie. This tie would be shared with my family and theirs, yet with the balance of placing our new family unit as important in that structure of family. My husband has been through a lot, and as a family we have gotten through those hard times and gleaned a much better relationship on the other side. Both Bobby and my Daddy are the most important men in my life and I am an extremely lucky individual to have them and hopefully they realize how important they are to me, every day.

Journal post #6

There are many times that I have to lie to my Grandmother to make sure that she is happy and healthy. They are usually little white lies, but they keep her happy and calm. I am primary care giver to my Grandma and I do whatever it takes to make her have a healthy and prosperous life. She is from a generation that worries a lot about her family and if they are happy. When Grandma asks about certain things I often have to lie to her and tell her that everything is ok when perhaps it may not be allright. Yet her knowing that my family is doing allright makes her happy and less worried. She worries constantly that I work to much, study too hard and have too many friends. So to keep her calm, I might lie to her about how much homework I have and it continues from there.

"Which Historical Event I Would Have Liked to Have Witnessed"

There are many historical events I would have liked to have witnessed; however, I think the one that I really would have appreciated the most would be when women were fighting for the right to vote. In the early twentieth century, our country was complimenting itself on its technological and industrial advancements, yet the women in this country still had no say about who their lawmakers were. I find it profoundly ironic when I read period literature set in this time era, how arrogant so many men were by keeping the vote from American women. One of the best books that I have read that made a profound mark on me about this accomplishment was, "Falling Angels" by Tracy Chevalier. I highly recommend all women to read this to experience a small inkling of what women were subjected to for us to have just the simple right to vote.

"Journal Entry #4"

When my mother was pregnant with me, of course there were no ultrasounds, at least not clear pictures and the Doc told my Mom I was a boy. She had the name of Damien Frederick picked out, which I think is a very cool name and then I was actually born and a girl. My parents had not really prepared a name so my cousin, Kim, who was very close to my Mom and Dad's age and close friends with them, came up with my full name of Angela Nicole. I actually have never liked my first name, I don't mind Nicole, and named my youngest Nicolas after me. I kind of wish that my Mom had still named me Damien, even as a girl, because I think that would have different and original, just maybe Damien Nicole. I always wanted to try that theory if I had a girl, but had two boys so was never able to try it out. The ironic ending to this story is that my youngest brother, who is now a 28 year old nurse, was born the Doc told my Mom he was a girl and she had the name Amber Elizabeth picked out, but ended up being a Ryan Frederick, who we called Bubba up until he was almost 25:)