I look at this picture of my dad, Mr. Richard Balderama and my sis, Donna Balderama and her baby Daniel and see love. My mom passed away three months after Jeannette and my dad misses her so very much. He and I get together twice per month or more. I live far from him but he still manages to drive into Fresno to my home at 7:30 in the morning every other Saturday. We have fun together. I love to hear him talk about the olden days in his life. He rarely mentions my mom because it makes him so emotional. He and my mom were married for 62 years. I think about their marriage and I have to admit they were very blessed to have met each other. She was a young beautiful petite woman that had relocated with her family to the small community of Corcoran, Ca. in 1947. My dad was working weighing the sacks of cotton in the cotton fields. My mom was not good at picking cotton due to always living in Los Angeles and working in factories. The day they met was certainly very hot. My mom tied her hair up in a pony tail and with a scarf hanging down. She put on some petal pushers (something like crop pants) and her long sleeve top and went into the cotton fields to pick the cotton. Her brothers and sisters were way ahead of her since they had been in Corcoran longer than she and had gotten the hang of it. She pulled a cotton from the plant and it scratched her red nails she had painted on the night before. She yelled out to her dad, " Apa, mira nomas mi unia." Her dad didn't even hear her. Her brother Duke told her to just pick as fast as she could and fill up the sack so they could go home. She finally managed to fill the sack and dragged it as best as her petite body could to the weighing station located close to the big trailer where all the cotton was gathered. She was out of breath by the time she got up to my dad. My dad was very shy and had never dated anyone. He was a handsome guy but didn't realize it due to being a country bumpkin. Anyway, my mom wiped the sweat from her brow and looked at him. He in turn managed to open his big brown eyes and looked at her. His heart started pounding and not a single word could come out of his mouth. My mom smiled real pretty at him and said, "So, how many pounds does this sack weigh?" He smiled with his perfect white teeth and said, " 10 pounds." My mom said o.k. and then tried to haul off the heavy sack. My dad stepped aside and took it from her and emptied it into the trailer. She said thanks and told him I'll see you tomorrow. It was love at first sight. They married soon after and then I was born a year later. I had hoped that Jeannette would have had a good marriage but she didn't. I had hoped that I would have had a good marriage and I didn't. But my mom and dad were blessed and had many years together. Now my dad is lonely and misses my mom so much. All my brothers and sisters love my dad and we are all there to support him. He certainly deserves it. What a great man, my dad, Mr. Richard Balderama. Age 85. I just wish my Jeannette was here. I miss my Nettle Poodle.
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