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Today is May 28, 2021. My name is Ann Shi. And we're interviewing Mrs. Lynn Batte for the Houston Asian

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American Archive. Thank you so much, Lynn, for joining us today. Oh, thank you for having me. To start with your story, can you tell us when and where were you born? I was born on January 15th,

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1959 in Houston, Texas. That's wonderful. Can you tell us the neighborhood you grew up in? I grew up in Westbury, which was in southwest Houston.

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I lived in the same house until I got married. So that was 23 years. What were some of the childhood memories? Well, we used to spend a lot of time with Aunt Joyceand Uncle Beck

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and their son Steven, who is my cousin. We grew up more like a brother and sister because we were only nine months apart in age. And we used to get

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together for meals several times a week. And then we did do a lot of the Chinese functions—the CACA . We went to those social events.

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I remember that quite a bit. So we were all very close. That's fascinating. And as we were talking a lot about your uncle Beck and aunt

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Joyce, as we were capturing their love stories in our love podcasts, can you tell us a little bit about your memories about uncle Beck and aunt Joyce? Well, they– they always

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treated me more like their daughter than their niece, I feel like, and I– I used to go on vacations with them. Sometimes because my– my dad worked a lot.

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And so we didn't get to go on a lot of vacations. They– they took me—aunt Joyce and uncle Beck—took me to Hemisfair in San Antonio. I believe that was in 1968.

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And I remember that trip. It was very, very hot. And we also went to Corpus Christi. And then we

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went to Mexico. And that was the only time that I crossed the border to Mexico was when I was with them. And it was a—it was a good trip.

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And they used to take me places where I knew that I wouldn't have been able to go, had they not taken me. And then when I was 13, I traveled with them and my grandmother, who was from England.

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I traveled to UK. And we were gone three weeks. And I was very, very excited to go on that trip, because that meant I got to meet a lot of my cousins who I had

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never met before, and– and my aunts and uncles. So that– that was really, really a good memory. And can you tell us a little bit about the stories, maybe

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Beck and Joyce have shared with you regarding how they came to the country and how it impacted your– your kind of memories and– and senses of the diasporic

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history about your family? Mhm. Well, when I got to be a teenager, I guess, I began to ask more questions. And I was able to figure out

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that Aunt Joyce was really very young when she got married. She was only 17. And, in fact, she had just turned 17. And I commented to her that

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I felt like she was way too young to get married. I think she kind of took offense to it. And she says, "Well, there was a war going on." In other words, in her mind, if she didn't get married, then

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she might not have another opportunity to. I thought it was kind of funny. But a lot of Uncle Beck's history of growing up in the– in the United States I did not learn until– until I was an adult.

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And, you know, I was– I was somewhat upset about the hardships that he and his grandmother went through when they were living in Mississippi. But that's the way it was at that time.

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I always felt bad that Uncle Beck was denied a public school education. And I remember when he told me, I said, "Well, what did you do all day, then, if you weren't in school?" He said that he would read everything that he

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could get his hands on. And he would read the newspaper and, because he was– he was very intelligent. And it was a waste for him to not be able to– to go to school. But,

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you know, he came out of it okay. And he ended up having a career that he loved doing. So, in the end, it worked out well for him.

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And has he shared some of the stories about the grocery stores he owned back then? Well, he did. He didn't own his grocery store for very long after his grandmother died because then he was drafted. So he had to sell his grocery

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store. And I think that he was pretty content. You know, being in that grocery store environment, because that's all he had known. I don't know. You know, it's– it's hard to kind of think about

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what would have happened had he not been drafted. I wouldn't be sitting here today. If that hadn't happened, even though Uncle Beck always said that Adolf Hitler

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was the reason why he was sent to England and met Aunt Joyce. So, you know? In a way, that's how things go.

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And can you also tell us a little bit about your family's history? Like we were so fascinated to learn about your DNA report. And can you share with us, like your other side of the family?

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Yes. My– my parents were married in– in England, and my mom was half-Chinese and half-English. Because her– her mother was– was from England. And then her father was born in China.

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And then my dad was an English Irishman. My maiden name is Ryan, so that's about as Irish as you can get. So, you know, they met and–

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and got—they were married while Aunt Joyce and Uncle Beck were already in the United States. And my dad was not really happy with the way things were going in England,

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and he didn't think that there was a good opportunity to raise a family. And he wasn't really very close to his family. So it was, I think, easier for him to leave England

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than it was for my mother. My mom's family was always very close-knit. But, the– the funny thing, when Aunt Joyce and Uncle Beck agreed to sponsor my parents to come to the

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US, Uncle Beck had never met my father. And here he was, you know, sponsoring someone who he really did not know. So that's pretty remarkable.

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And Aunt Joyce had only seen my dad once, on one of her visits home. Because when she left England in 1946, it was eight years before she went back to England to visit.

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And so, you know, I– I just have never really forgotten that Aunt Joyce and Uncle Beck did that for my parents. Because I'm,

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I'm very happy to be an American. And it really is because of them. Taking that chance. You know, it was– it was a big deal.

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And when, when my parents arrived in 1955, to Houston, they didn't have anywhere to live. So Aunt Joyce and Uncle Beck and my mom and dad lived in a one-bedroom apartment for six months.

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And my dad was fascinated with the television. So he would watch the television a lot. And you know, Aunt Joyce and Uncle Beck

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were working so, I’m surprised that, that they all got along as well as they did. It's kind of funny. And what were your parents' occupations?

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Well, my dad was a photographer in England, and that's what he wanted to do when he came to Houston. But he had a really difficult time finding a job. And Uncle Beck even told me that

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they almost gave up and went back to England. But then he finally got a job in a camera shop, and then he got a job in a studio. So he ended up doing

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what he wanted. And my mom, well her first job—because they came to the United States right after Thanksgiving, and before Christmas—and so her first job was wrapping Christmas presents in the gift wrap

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department in downtown Sakowitz store. Aunt Joyce had a job there. She was a hairstylist at that time. And then my mom went to, like, secretarial-type

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school. And so she was then a secretary. And Mom's last job that she had, she worked there for 35 years in Houston for a family-owned business.

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So you were talking about Beck and Joyce was initially in Mississippi before they moved to Houston. No, Uncle Beck was in Mississippi. But when he came back from World War Two,

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he did go back to Mississippi for just a very short time. But then he– he went to Houston, and he was in Houston by the time Aunt Joyce came– came over.

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So your parents also joined them in Houston and never went to Mississippi? That's correct. Right. And, I remember you told me you were the firstborn in US of the entire family. Yes.

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How did that feel? It made me feel really special. It was, you know, nothing that I did, but I was always really proud of that.

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And my– when my parents got their citizenship, I remember going with them to the courthouse. And I was sitting between them feeling very smug, because I was already an American citizen before my parents.

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That's fascinating. I don't know, just a child. I think it was four. The child's mentality. And have you been in touch with the extended family that were either back in England and you also

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mentioned in Canada, right? Well, the Canadian relatives are all Uncle Beck's relatives. But I have lately gotten very close to them.

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And even though we're not true cousins, I still think of them as my cousins. And I'm really glad to have that relationship with them.

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And as far as our relatives in England—yes, we– we do have a relationship with them. And of course, having, you know, more technology now makes it a lot easier.

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And I also have a cousin who lives in Australia; and another one who lives in Singapore; and another cousin lives in Germany. I'm on—I see her

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occasionally on Facebook, but not very much. So in your kind of, like a slightly-bigger-than-normal nuclear family with you, your parents, and Beck and Joyce, what do you guys usually eat back then?

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And who was the cook? Or was there like a designated cook back then? Well, because we used to share a lot of meals, we would go, you know, one night to Aunt Joyce and Uncle

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Beck's house and we'd eat—and this was even during a week. And they would kind of work it around their schedule. If Aunt Joyce was off from work, well she would cook that day or for that evening. And then if my

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mom was off, she would cook—although sometimes even when my mom was working full-time, she still would come home and cook a meal. And my grandparents in England

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had a cafe. So my mom learned how to cook quite a bit from her dad. And mom was a really, really good cook.

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I don't think Aunt Joyce really liked cooking as much. But we used to, you know, share our meals, and we'd have some Chinese food and we still did have a lot of the English-type food—you know, roast and lamb.

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And, you know, at Christmas time, they'd have the– the pudding. It you know, had a flame and it would light up from the alcohol. There's a name for it... I can't even remember.

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That was a big deal. So, Mom and Aunt Joyce made sure that they carried a lot of that tradition on from England into our houses.

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So... What were some of the celebration food? Like, do you have Christmas food? And then like Chinese New

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Year food? Or what were some of the foods that you remember having that was your favorite, or...? Well, in England, they typically would have a turkey for Christmas. And in this—in the US, you know, turkey

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is more for Thanksgiving. So sometimes we would have turkey Thanksgiving and Christmas. And then as far as Chinese New Year, we didn't– we didn't really celebrate that too much. The CACA, they would have

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some celebrations and, not so much as a child we went to those; but since Uncle Beck had moved closer to us, he would take us to those, you know, 10-course meals and it

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was really nice. Really good food. Sorry, can you remind me what CACA is? It's Chinese American Citizens Alliance. Was there any veterans group that Gee was part of?

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Yes. He was very active in the veterans. And, I don't remember the post number but– but he did go to monthly meetings when he was still living in Houston. That's wonderful.

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And yeah, since we are– we're so fascinated to be able to have the opportunity to archive and retell Beck and Joyce love stories, can you tell us, from your perspective, how their love story was like? When would you feel that they're very much

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in love? Um, well, it was always there, just—because we were so, I mean, my family growing up was always really close to their family, we would do so many things together.

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So it was always understood. Yeah. Mhm. Mhm. And so going back to your own, like, childhood experience and memories. Can you tell us a little bit about your neighborhood and what the

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demographics was like, and any of the childhood games that you were playing that you really remembered enjoying back then? Well, living in southwest Houston—the– it was very diverse.

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And when I was in school, there were a lot of Asian students, there was a lot of Jewish, which, I always liked that because to me, the diversity was so

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interesting. And you had the opportunity to see other people's cultures. So I really enjoyed that. And I was very

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active in Girl Scouts, when I was growing up, and we had all of that diversity in our Girl Scout troop. And, you know, those were some of the best times that I had growing up.

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I did—that was mostly my social outlet was our Girl Scout troop. That sounds so wonderful. Yeah, and fun. And given your kind of multi-ethnic background, do

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you remember having any questions or any confusions about, like, your ethnicity, in a sense? Oh, yes. Because my cousin Stephen was adopted from China, and we spent so much time together, our ages

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were only nine months apart. And even a girl who was in my Girl Scout troop told me that I must be adopted, because my mom and I look nothing alike.

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And then I kind of questioned my mother about that, because Steven was adopted. So I thought, well, maybe I'm adopted and they just didn't tell me. But of course, that wasn't the

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case. We, you know, growing up, especially—even when Stephen and I were together, we would get stared at, a lot. And I was—it didn't bother me.

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Now if– if Stephen would get bullied, that would bother me. But the stares didn't bother me that much. I just felt like, these people don't know.

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And that's their problem. I was kind of amused by it, to see people's faces. I still get that, even today when I tell people that I'm

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part-Chinese. They’d look at me like I have three heads. And I– I just laugh. I guess just for the audi—the benefit of the audience, can you share again what your ethnicity was?

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I'm one quarter Chinese, and then I'm more Irish than I thought I was. And to be honest, I've forgotten what the percents are. I do have some English.

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But that– that's pretty much it. I think I have six different colors on the ancestry DNA wheel. I guess, just for the benefit, I will—I'll read it from your DNA

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origins report. It's 47% Irish; 20% Southern China; and 15% England and North Western Europe; 11% Scotland; 4% Northern China; and

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3% Wales. Yeah, that was amazing. That's called a Heinz 57. That's what my mom used to call me. And so in your family, did you grow up with any spiritual beliefs

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or religious beliefs? Well, we didn't, simply because my dad was raised Catholic. And he did not like the Catholic religion, I think because he had to go too often.

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And so he– he didn't, he didn't want to follow the Catholic religion anymore. And my mom was raised Protestant and, and she did go to church when she was in England.

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The fact that she was Protestant and my dad was Catholic, you know, caused my dad's parents to not think that my dad should have married my mom.

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And not to mention that she was half Chinese, you know, that just really added another insult in their eyes. So, my mom had told me that when I was born, she told

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my dad that if we weren't going to go to church as a family that we wouldn't go. So we didn't. It just wasn't something that my dad wanted to do.

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He had told me that he wanted me to choose a religion of my choice. So that's the way it was. Now, I did go to various churches with my Girl Scout friends.

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I went to a Methodist Church. And then David and I were married in the Methodist Church that he attended, because my mom—she really thought that I should be married in a church.

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I would have been fine getting married at the justice of the peace. But David's family, you know, they're very religious, and it was important to them.

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So, it worked out. I wasn't totally opposed to it. And can you tell us a little bit of growing up before we dive into your own life story as well?

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So during your teenage years, were there any, because of the different appearance and the mixed race, were there any kind of targeted bully or anything because of that?

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Not toward me. And by the time we were teenagers, I don't really remember Stephen being bullied that much. But it did happen in elementary school.

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To just sort of background, Stephen look more Asian, more Chinese than...? Oh, definitely, because he was born in China. So he looked—yeah, he was 100% Chinese. Yes. So you used to try to

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protect him during a lot of those times? I did. Well, I you know, I didn't– I didn't like it that– that he was singled out. Just because, you know, he was my cousin. And more like a brother.

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So an insult to him therefore was an insult to me, even though it wasn't really directed to me. And I'm just glad that– that it didn't happen very often

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when we were together. And yeah, I guess let's dive into your own love story. Can you tell us how you met your husband, David? We met in driver's ed between

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ninth and tenth grade of high school during the summer, and we were assigned the same car, because there were quite a few students in that class. But somehow we got assigned to the same car,

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and he would sit in the backseat and try to tell me how to drive. I was nervous about driving anyway, so I didn't really like that. And at the time, he liked another girl in our class. And I was okay with that.

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Like, whatever. But then when school started in the fall, he was in my English class. And he sat behind me.

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And I think he did that so that he could get help from me in the class. And I remember it took him two days to try to find where I live,

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because obviously this was before internet and the street where my parents lived, it was very chopped up. And he only had a bicycle to use, even though he had his driver's license by then, I think, maybe not.

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But when he finally found our house, I happened to be sick that day. And I was laying on the sofa and my mom shook me to wake me up and said, "There's a boy at the door for you." So I

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go to the door, and it was David. So a few weeks after that, he asked me to go on a date. And David didn't dress very well when he was in school, he would wear blue jeans and dirty ol' work boots,

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and just a plaid button-down shirt. Now, I thought he should have been more dressed up for school, but apparently he didn't think so. So when we went on the date, I

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thought, "Well, I'm not gonna really dress up for this guy, because he doesn't dress up at school. So I'm sure he'll still show up in his jeans, and his boot– or boots, which were sometimes muddy." So

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he arrived at the house on a Friday night, and I looked out the peephole to see who was there. And David was standing there, and he was all dressed up, he had nice slacks on, nice dress shoes,

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and a nice pullover shirt. And I was in jeans, and I didn't put very much effort into my outfit. But I guess it didn't bother him too much because he kept coming back.

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So we– we started dating in our sophomore year of high school. I was 15 and David was 16. And we got engaged about

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three years later, maybe, maybe a little longer, about three and a half years. And then we finally got married after we'd known each other seven and a half years because my parents wanted David to finish college before we got

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married. So we had a very long engagement. Do you remember the proposal? Well, just when he gave me my ring I do. But we had talked about getting married, even

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from our senior year in high school. So it was kind of, it wasn't,he never didn't really get down on his knee or anything like that. Yeah,

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we were both in summer school when we got engaged. And when I– I was taking classes at night. And when I finished my class, he came over to my parents' house and gave me my ring. So I do remember that.

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Can you tell us about the wedding? What was the day like? What was the weather like on that day? Who were there? And what was the wedding ceremony

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like? Well, we got married in January. And a lot of times January is not a very good time for weather. And a couple of weeks before we got married, there was a really bad

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snowstorm in the United States. And my grandmother from England and one of my aunts and her husband were coming to our wedding, which I was really happy

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about, that my grandmother was going to be able to attend. But that snowstorm delayed them. Luckily, they were able to get another flight and they arrived in time.

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And our wedding day was not raining; it was really a pretty day—sunny, not too cold. And we got married in David's church that he had attended with his parents

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for many years. And it was a really nice ceremony, not too big. And then we had our wedding reception at the Criterion Club, it was at the top of the Fannin Bank building in

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Midtown, Houston. And I worked at Fannin Bank, so they allowed me to use that dining room, which was really, really nice.

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It was a good day. Lovely. And can you tell us about what life goes on afterwards? Like, with your career, in the family, like, did you have children afterwards?

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I never really wanted a career, because there wasn't anything that I was that passionate about doing other than having a family. So I worked in banking, and I got an associate degree in

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banking technology. But I really just wanted to have kids. So we had our son two years after we got married;

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and then three years after that, we had our daughter. And we– we've lived in a Clear Lake area all of our married life because of David's job. And he worked

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in Texas City, he's an engineer. So that's why we– we stayed in that area, because it was close to where his job was, you know. We couldn't have lived in Houston and him commute, it's just too far.

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But we really like the Clear– Clear Lake area, we've lived in Clear Lake longer than we lived in Houston. So it's kind of our home now. And so you were staying with your parents up till

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you were in high school, right? Then, like, after you married, did you move out? No. I stayed living with my parents until David and I got married.

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I was 23. Right, I– I've never lived on my own. And I– I remember you talked about taking care of Beck Gee when he was unwell

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for a period and you guys really bonded. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Well, after my mom got sick, and she was supposed to be the one to help Uncle Beck, and then she couldn't,

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so it kind of passed to me. And if I had not agreed to take care of him, he would have probably moved back to Canada. It's very cold there.

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And he does have a lot of nieces and nephews who would have taken very good care of him. But he would have been in an environment that he wasn't used to. And since I was here, I told him that I–

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I would do the job, because he sacrificed a lot to bring my parents here. And so this was a– this was a payback time for me. Even though Uncle Beck didn't really like

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that. He, in the three years he lived close to us in League City, he would feel like he was a bother. But my husband and daughter and son

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and his wife—they all helped. So it wasn't really a bother. We always included him in our family things. I mean, we were the only family that he

00:38:08.810 - 00:38:25.850

had left in the United States. So I wouldn't, I wouldn't turn my back on him. I absolutely could not. So during that time, besides taking care of him,

00:38:26.140 - 00:38:40.730

do you guys have conversations about, like, life, about his memories? Oh, yes. We had many conversations. If you're willing to share some of them, we'd love to hear it.

00:38:43.310 - 00:39:02.840

Well, he told me when he was in the grocery store in Mississippi, with his grandmother, that they were not the store owners. But a man let them run the store, and he gave them

00:39:03.570 - 00:39:24.790

food from a grocery store and shelter; but he didn't ever pay them a salary. And I was just shocked at that news. You know, I– I guess when you're in that

00:39:24.830 - 00:39:41.370

situation, you just end up making the best of it. But he– he had a hard time when they were in Mississippi. And it probably wasn't until after World War II and he came to Houston

00:39:42.390 - 00:39:58.850

that things started getting a lot better for Aunt Joyce and Uncle Beck. And then he would tell me some things about being in Europe during the war. I tried to

00:39:58.900 - 00:40:11.950

write down some of these things and I do have it. It's hard to remember it all. But he would talk about it like it was yesterday. But we did have many, many conversations

00:40:14.250 - 00:40:31.180

during the time he lived in League City, which I'm so glad that we did. We had that time together. Yeah. And also, thank you so much for bringing all his archival, or his photographs, all those old photographs

00:40:31.940 - 00:40:49.080

and personal letters and those marriage certificates. And we are so honored to be able to archive them on your behalf and carry on his legacy as well. Oh, you're very welcome. I'm happy to give them to you because I don't

00:40:49.250 - 00:40:59.090

want them to be lost. I– I want other people to know our story because it's important.

00:41:00.140 - 00:41:17.820

You know, it's history. And it's our life. And I'm, you know, I'm very proud of– of our history. That's fascinating. And can you tell us a little bit about the stories behind those

00:41:18.180 - 00:41:33.210

archives, those memorabilia that you donated to us that stood out? Well, I think the really old documents of when his grandparents came to this country, I think his grandfather

00:41:33.210 - 00:41:51.250

came in 1918, his grandmother came in 1926. And I'm amazed that Uncle Beck kept– kept those documents. But he didn't– he didn't throw things away too much,

00:41:53.550 - 00:42:06.170

even though some of the letters that he kept, he was going to, but I caught him in time. I'm– I'm so glad that I got to

00:42:06.260 - 00:42:24.060

read them. Did he tell you anything about Angel Island where he was kept before he was allowed to enter the United States? Well, as a nine-year-old

00:42:24.430 - 00:42:39.380

boy, he was kind of left just to fend for himself. And you can imagine at that age, you know, you don't have a parent looking over you. So I think he just kind of ran wild and the adults there would

00:42:41.060 - 00:42:53.010

somewhat supervise him. But he did admit to me, he was there a month. And he doesn't think that he took a bath the whole time he was there, which—is a typical, typical

00:42:54.950 - 00:43:12.880

child. I'm sure that changed once his grandmother got a hold of him in New Orleans. I'm also curious, in your neighborhood, in Clear Lake, what are some of the communities that

00:43:13.350 - 00:43:26.380

you're part of? Well, let's see. Since we've been there so long. I– I was in a smocking group.

00:43:27.500 - 00:43:38.880

I learned how to smock when my– after my daughter was born. And so I did that. And then I was very active in the schools, once

00:43:41.290 - 00:44:02.980

our son started kindergarten, which then led to me getting a job with the school district. So I– I have a lot of friends from that, from the schools, just—and the longer you're in an area,

00:44:03.910 - 00:44:16.670

the more people you end up knowing. But it shifted, you know, I'm not in the smocking guild anymore, and our kids are grown.

00:44:19.730 - 00:44:36.350

We would go to our grandson's programs while they were in school. And our oldest grandson is now going to be in high school and his brother will go to

00:44:36.350 - 00:45:00.930

intermediate, and I can't believe they're that old already. It's gone by fast. How old are your grandchildren? The older one is 14, and the younger one is 11. What are some of the– your own stories or bedtime stories that you tell them?

00:45:05.740 - 00:45:18.270

Well, let's see... Do you also tell them about how your uncle and your own parents came to the country? Yes, I have told them.

00:45:20.910 - 00:45:35.430

And, of course, they're part Chinese as well. So I remind them of that every once in a while. Older grandson, when he was a little boy, he didn't quite understand, and he would argue with me and tell

00:45:35.430 - 00:45:54.950

me that he wasn't Chinese. I would– I would tell them stories about their dad, some of the things that he would– that he would do. What is your favorite thing about your heritage in

00:46:05.430 - 00:46:25.970

Chinese American? I think my favorite thing is that people look at me and don't know that I'm Chinese. I always liked that a lot, because you can't always tell what someone is by looking at them.

00:46:27.320 - 00:46:46.220

And because of growing up with that culture, I'm absolutely fine with it. I– I feel like it's made me a better person, because I'm more tolerant of

00:46:46.590 - 00:47:02.690

people's differences. And, you know, when the races get together, and have children, I think that their children are very unique-looking, and that's something that you should not ever

00:47:02.690 - 00:47:21.830

be ashamed of. My mom was a beautiful lady and so was my Aunt Joyce, and they were my family. So living with, like, the family of

00:47:23.090 - 00:47:40.470

Beck and Joyce and your own parents, and I guess they look kind of different. Like, have there been questions about the appearances? Like besides, like, you said when you were a kid, people, I mean, the other kids asked you if you're adopted?

00:47:41.170 - 00:47:59.090

Were you– were there any other kind of questions because of the perception of the appearances? Oh, yes. And that, that went on, until my own mom died in 2019.

00:47:59.130 - 00:48:09.860

And Uncle Beck died in 2020. And, you know, I miss that. Because out in public, I would always call, "Uncle Beck,

00:48:10.310 - 00:48:28.470

Uncle Beck." And I know that people, they would still stare and wonder, "How do those two go together?" And I just thought it was funny that they would wonder that; and if they asked me, I would tell them the reason.

00:48:29.160 - 00:48:48.040

I didn't have a problem with that. I guess, to tie in with what has happened in the past few months, where actually it has been going on since the start of the pandemic and of COVID-19 where there's a lot of

00:48:48.970 - 00:49:03.610

Asian-targeted hate crimes. Can you share with us some of your thoughts on that? And if there's anything that you would like to say to the people with such attitude, what would you like to say?

00:49:03.670 - 00:49:21.810

Well, I don't like the attacks at all. Because I don't feel like any group of people should be attacked, possibly from the reason—the actions of a few people in their

00:49:24.160 - 00:49:42.340

culture or their nationality. Every nationality has some people that are not good and you cannot blame an entire race for the actions of a few.

00:49:44.240 - 00:50:04.760

And, you know, being part-Asian and seeing, you know, that type of behavior that others present, I have learned to not

00:50:05.070 - 00:50:18.680

judge people just because of their race. I always look at the person and see what they're like, on the inside. And that's what matters

00:50:19.140 - 00:50:37.610

to me. If they're a good person, they're a good person. And their appearance does not matter. And I– I tried to even tell that to our own children, because I wanted them to know that I

00:50:37.660 - 00:50:52.600

would not be prejudiced against any race that they would bring into our house. When they were teenagers, you know, if it was a boyfriend, a girlfriend, whoever, I think you'd have to

00:50:53.590 - 00:51:10.290

trust your kids' judgment. You've raised them. They will, they will choose people who are good. I think when I told one of my kids that, they were kind of surprised that I felt that way.

00:51:12.160 - 00:51:32.000

But it's because of how I was raised. And how have your COVID-19 pandemic experience been? After looking back a year? Actually, it hasn't—David and I were just talking about this the other day—it hasn't

00:51:32.000 - 00:51:44.490

really affected us that much. I work in a small office where it's just me and my boss, so I continued to work. I– I didn't, you know, have

00:51:44.580 - 00:52:06.750

to stay away, except if I happen to, you know, possibly be exposed to somebody who was exposed to someone else. I lost some work time because of that. Probably, it was hard at first that we couldn't go out to eat, because we

00:52:06.750 - 00:52:24.810

do eat out a lot. That was probably the hardest thing. But then we got to start going out to eat again. It didn't really affect us that much. And as far as traveling, we hadn't been able to travel since

00:52:25.640 - 00:52:40.850

2012 because of my mom and her illness, I wouldn't travel very far. So we didn't have– really any family vacations. And then after mom died, I

00:52:40.850 - 00:53:00.010

wouldn't go anywhere because, you know, Uncle Beck, if he needed somebody, I needed to be here. So we didn't take our first vacation until last year, and it was, eight years? It had been eight years since we'd had a true family

00:53:00.230 - 00:53:17.610

vacation. So COVID didn't affect us that much, as far as what we were able to do. Now we have known some people who've passed away from it and who have become very ill.

00:53:19.190 - 00:53:37.960

That– that's been, that was the hardest part. And I remember last year, it was June, about a year before precisely this time, it was your uncle Beck Gee that who passed?

00:53:38.670 - 00:53:56.550

Yes. June 6. And there was a Houston Chronicle newsletter about this, an– an obituary on that.

00:53:56.720 - 00:54:11.750

And can you tell us a little bit about what happened, what the funeral was like, and the people who gathered to celebrate his life? Well, the obituary that appeared in the Houston Chronicle,

00:54:13.980 - 00:54:35.200

99.9% of it was written by Uncle Beck. He wrote his own obituary. I think I added just a tiny bit to it. But I knew that that's how he wanted it to be and I

00:54:35.240 - 00:54:47.190

told him I would, you know, follow his wishes. So that's what I did. A lot of people, I think, who would have normally come to the funeral did not because of COVID.

00:54:48.370 - 00:55:05.800

But there were still quite a few people there and we– we all wore masks, and it was a really, really nice service. Our daughter put together the photographs and she helped me choose the

00:55:05.800 - 00:55:28.570

music. So it– it went really well. Thank you for sharing that. And I guess before I close, is there anything that you would like to share further? If I kind of had left gaps in your interview?

00:55:30.870 - 00:55:47.670

I don't believe so. I think you did a very good job asking me the questions. And I think that's pretty much our story. Would you like to leave a time capsule, if I can invite you to do something, like give a kind of a time capsule

00:55:48.220 - 00:56:00.110

speech for your future generations, such as if your granddaughter and their granddaughter's daughter come to visit the Fondren library's archive? Oh! That's awesome.

00:56:00.300 - 00:56:12.320

Yes, I would enjoy doing that. Yeah, please. Whenever you're ready. Okay. Oh, you mean I'm supposed to do it now? Oh.

00:56:15.390 - 00:56:36.310

Let's see, what would I say? I hope that they would find our history as interesting as I believe it is. And to know that my parents and Aunt Joyce and Uncle Beck

00:56:36.560 - 00:56:52.840

made a lot of sacrifices for us. Which has always been very, very important to me. And they would always take care

00:56:52.840 - 00:57:09.480

of their family. And keep your family close. Because in the end, that's really all you have. Your family. That's heartwarming and thank you so much for sharing that.

00:57:09.480 - 00:57:16.030

No, you're welcome. Happy to do it. Really enjoyed the past hour with you. I've enjoyed it as well.