Junita 'Jennie' Medina

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I was born in La Junta, Colo., March 30, 1925. My dad did farm work, working in the beets. My mom was a housewife. I had four brothers and two sisters.

I remember living in an adobe home with my grandparents. They were head of the household. When family members got married, they would live with the grandparents, the old-fashioned way. Last year one of my nephews went back to the homestead and all that was left was a mound of adobe.

When I was 5 years old, we moved to Brawley. Dad worked as a laborer. We then moved to Corcoran following the crops Dad worked in.

I was the oldest and did lots of ironing of shirts for the boys and helping my mother with the younger kids. I went to school in Corcoran and Laton. When I started school in Laton with my cousin, we couldn't understand why these dark-skinned girls like us wouldn't talk to us. We thought they should speak Spanish like we did. We found out later they were of Portuguese descent and, as we began to learn English, we all became friends. It was hard to start school when you didn't know any English. My cousin learned faster, and I was always behind.

We later moved to Fresno and I went to St. John's Catholic School through the eighth grade. I was 18 years old by then.

I went to work to help my dad make a living for the family at California Fig Growers and Packers packing house in Fresno. We would pack small packages of figs that were sent overseas to the service men and women. I was a wrapper. I had lots of fun there. This is where I met my husband, Dioniocio. He had just gotten out of the service and got a job there.

We were married in 1946. When the season was over, I stayed home and became a housewife. Our first child was born two years later. We have three children, Susana, who lives in Fresno, Steven, who lives in Clovis, and Patricia, who lives with us in Clovis. We had a daughter Dorothy who died when she was 2 years old. All our children attended Tarpey Elementary and graduated from Clovis High School.

My husband is now retired and does a lot of yard work. He keeps our big yard clean and already has his tomatoes growing. We still live in Tarpey Village.

We have six grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. My hobbies are going to the exercise class and folding the monthly newsletter at the Clovis Senior Center and taking care of my husband. I used to drive, but my daughter told me, "Mom, you can't drive anymore, you've had too many accidents." She works for the Department of Motor Vehicles. Now I ride the Roundup Transit."