Josefina

My car wound up the dirt road passing two country houses separated by pastures and shade trees. It was mid winter in North San Diego County but not cold that morning. The road was fifteen miles from the Pacific Ocean but still close enough for the ocean breeze to warm the air. I took the left fork in the road that wound up a steep hill to a large grove of avocados. I passed two small travel trailers which housed a family from Mexico. White diapers, blouses and skirts hung from a rope strung between the two trailers. An outdoor pit held gray ashes from a burned out cooking fire. I parked near the ranch house at the top of the hill. The owner of the property gave me permission to interview a fourteen year old young lady, Josefina. She was living in one of the trailers. She had only been there for two weeks helping her cousin care for her three little children, but Josefina was interested in earning money.

She spoke to me in her native language Spanish, and she said she was from a small village in central Mexico. Her five younger brothers and sisters and her parents still lived there. She was five feet tall, skinny, and not very attractive wearing an old dress that fell to her ankles. Her dark brown hair was cut shoulder length, and parted in the middle. It covered the sides if her cheeks making her appear to be peeking out at you. She had good teeth, bright dark eyes, and she smiled when I asked her if she would like to live in our home and be our housekeeper. I explained that Barbara and I worked in the city but lived in the country. Our four children rode busses to attend Vista city schools. Josefina was expected to do light house work including sweeping, washing windows and doing the dishes.

Josefina was younger than my daughter Julie, but she wore the same size dress. Julie delighted in dressing our new maid. She showed her how to wear lip-stick. She cut bangs in Josefina's hair and gave her a pretty ribbon to wear. She also gave Josefina nice shoes and purses to match her new used clothing.

Josefina proved to be an excellent worker, intelligent, and interested in learning. She was also pleasant, friendly, and got along well with our family. After dinner she sat at the kitchen table with me, and I taught her simple words and phrases in English. Three nights a week I drove her two miles from my home to Vista High School where she attended English classes. By the time she was sixteen she looked and acted much like other children who were born in Vista. She didn't grow much taller, but she filled out in the right places and became a beautiful young lady. She began accepting rides home from school with a nice young Mexican man who rode a motor scooter. He worked for a man who lived close to us. Josefina was ambitious but not likely to get herself into any kind of trouble. She had not yet become a U. S. citizen.

One day Barbara noticed Josefina crying. She had been contacted by phone by her father who was in Tijuana. He ordered her to meet him there. He said his wife was ill, and she needed help to take care of their children. Josefina did not wish to return to the poor little village of her childhood, but she did want to send money she had earned to her father. She hated to leave her pleasant life in Vista. She dried her tears, packed her few possessions, and left on a bus for Tijuana as her father ordered. She joined her father and they took the long bus ride home. She promised to write to us, but unfortunately we did not hear from her for several years.

One day she drove to our house in a red, late model, pick-up truck. She showed us her child. It was a beautiful baby girl. We recognized Josefina but she had changed. She seemed more confident. She dressed in fashionable clothing and wore high heels. Her face looked like it belonged on a magazine cover. She said she spoke a little English but spoke Spanish to me. She explained she had met and married a man in her village in Mexico. Apparently he had been working in California and was home visiting his family when they met. After he married Josefina, he brought her with him to live in Vista where he worked and they rented a house on the outskirts of town together with another couple in order to save money on rent. They used the land surrounding the house to grow succulent ground cover plants. The plant was easy to grow, to transplant into boxes, and to sell. They worked very hard and saved money from their earnings.

Josefina soon became a legal resident, and within two short years, she and her husband were able to buy a home of their own. She came to visit us and asked for some flower cuttings. I could see that she had become a business woman with a self confidence she may have learned from my daughters Julie and Jennifer, and my wife Barbara. I feel lucky to have known Josefina. She was a young girl who went from rags to riches.