12.Our Move to Florida

During the 1960’s jobs were very easy to find in the Unites States. With this in mind my grandpa decided to drive to Florida hoping to find a new job. After interviewing for a job in Florida, he found out the same day that he got the job. So, after living at 264 Oakdale drive in Webster for a few years and having two children, my grandparents decided it was time for a change. My grandpa decided to take up the job offer in Florida and move there. With plans of having both of their parents moving down with them they thought it would be a better place to raise their children and live a happier warmer life. In 1972, they moved into a small apartment complex on Kendall Drive in South Miami. During this time my mom, Debbie, and Aunt, Lynne were still in grammar school. For them changing schools was very hard, not because of making friends but more because the school they would be attending was a bilingual school. The name of the school was School without Walls. At this school my mom and aunt learned both the English language and Spanish. Even today my mom remembers songs and Spanish words that were used a lot in the classroom. At the time there was not much transportation to and from school and my grandparents did not feel safe having their first and third grade daughters walking to school in the city so my grandma had to bring them to school every day. While in Florida my grandpa worked as a payroll specialist at Pemar Industries which was an engineering company in Florida. At this company my grandpa only made 12,000 dollars a year which is only 86 dollars a week. This forced them to living in a transient apartment complex. At this apartment complex my grandparents met many people. This included many Puerto Ricans, Cubans, single mothers, and a group of people from New York City. While living in this apartment my grandma made friends with one of these single mothers who happened to be Ernest Hemmingway’s niece. After going to Disney World its opening year and staying at the Polynesian Resort my grandparents decided Florida was not the place for a family, but more a place for vacation. In 1973, my grandparents decided to move back to Webster.