Part One – I’m a Survivor

The Letchworth family is an old English family. There’s a small town in England called Letchworth. I was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland. My dad was a T.I. in the Air Force, and Mother and I did not have a good relationship. Now I wasn’t really expected to live, I was only 3lb.s 15oz. at birth. This was way before they had the Neo-Natal units. So I’m a survivor through a lot of things.

Part Two – The Life-Cycle Just Continues

During the time I was in England, I was about four or five years old. While I was there, I got to sit on the Consort’s knee and meet the Queen. At the age of twelve, my mother took us to our grandmother and said, “I do not want these lying, sneak-thief little brats.” And left us with our grandmother. When that happened, we went to a children’s home in Oklahoma City.

I did graduate high school. I went to junior-college. And I was a nurse’s aide for many years, I’ve taken care of people, I worked at a hospital for quite some time, I’ve worked at nursing homes. I’ve seen the last breath of people. I’ve had my jobs, I’ve had my money, I’ve had a car. But when you get a certain age and you’re not being hire-able due to mental illness or some other things, and you lose everything, the only thing you’ve got is the clothes on your back… well, it just continues. The life-cycle just continues.

Part Three – I Proceeded to Lose It

Married. I had two boys. My youngest passed away. I have Rh-Negative blood, his father had Rh-Positive, so… They say that usually the second child is the one that gets slammed with all the negative things. Which I didn’t know about at the time. I was accused of hurting his son, so…

Got out of Phoenix, got me a job. Which I proceeded to lose it after getting drunk. I played with the Program for a little bit. I think I got as high as, at least, six years and went back out. Then I moved back to Oklahoma for a minute or two. Got drunk. And just now celebrated 22 years.

Part Four – How Things Are Going to Be

Well, it was a blessed day that we got here! I’ve got me a little cubby hole that I can stay out of the weather, and I’m comfortable. I’ve got me a little T.V., I can do my crocheting. It’s a sense of security for me, because I don’t have to worry about… what’s going to happen next. And I don’t have anybody around tellin’ me how things are going to be. It’s just my own sense of individualism and my sense of security that I have someplace to go to. I’ve lived in too many institutions. I’ve lived in two children’s homes. The institution of marriage. For a period of time. Now it’s just me. And it’s fun. And so far its worked for me.

Part Five – The Rest Will Fall Into Place

I’ve got so many people telling me, “You’re doing a good job.” Or, if it had been them, they wouldn’t have known what to do. I tell people, “What’s the next right thing?” You take care of yourself, the rest will fall into place.