My diary - February 24-26, 1973

My siblings: Becky, David, and me (May 2, 2026)

February 24, 1973 Sat.

Dear Smiley:

Today I took it easy. Slept in, read & relaxed. I didn’t do any homework like I should have (History Report!!) I wrote Grandpa (broke his collarbone recently & tried to cheer him up.) Gisela & Missy. I hate Dads boss. He got a big raise & Dad nada! I read till I finished “Shadow of the Lynx.” It was good! Read Teen mag & looked through Dad & Mom’s book. Dad has to go to Miami tomorrow. Pray he comes back safe & alive. Mom & Dad out for dinner.

BYE!!!

Note: I always worried that my Dad might die, but he survived into his 80s. It goes to show that the things we worry about usually don’t happen. It is the unexpected that catches us by surprise.

La Colonia Supermarket

February 25, 1973 Sun.

Dear Smiley:

Dad left for Miami. We went to church in Las Colinas. Went to La Colina (re-opened & a big mess!) Ate lunch. Mom said we could read play-boy so guess what we did all day!!! I tried on some of Becks clothes. Took a bath washed my hair. I worked on my History Report (2 pages so far!! YULK!!)

BYE!!

Note: La Colina was a supermarket that we frequented. It reopened after earthquake damage, but was a mess by my teen standards.

Becky and I were about the same size, so I loved trying on her clothes. She didn’t like mine too much!

I don’t remember reading Playboy, but I guess Mom thought it was only fair since my brother could.

February 26, 1973 Mon.

Dear Smiley:

I got up at 10:00. We had a pretty big tremor at 15 to 7 this morning. Worked on my history report. We went to school at 1:00. Its the same except a bit more confused & hot!!! Lots of new Nicas in our school. I don’t think I like Roberto V. anymore. Got to study Spanish.

BYE!!!

Note: This was our first day under the new schedule, with the elementary school going in the morning and the high school using the same facilities in the afternoon. In the past, we had gone from 7:30 to 12:30 when it was cooler. After the high school was destroyed, attending classes in sweltering-hot army tents wasn’t working. The administration thought this new schedule would work better and it did because the elementary building was somewhat cooler and had proper school facilities. 

Side view of one of the elementary buildings

February 24, 1973 Sat (David’s Diary)

Snoop, 

I guess today was an average day. It had good and bad parts. When I got up, I played golf with Dad. I beat him although I played pretty bad. Today is Dad’s day. When I got home I took a bath dn played. When I was talking with some kids I heard that they learned in 5th what we we were learning in 9th. I don’t believe it. I got permission to go out at night. I would have had fun if more were out. We could have played some games like fox across the river. I got home at 9:30. Half an hour early. Right now I was looking for penthouse. Couldn’t find it I’m sleepy, good night.

Note: Playing golf with my dad brings back good memories. It was one of the few, perhaps only sport that he played. Getting permission to play outside till 10 pm was a real treat. The game fox across the river was a form of tag though I don’t think it was the classic challenge of getting a fox, a chicken and grain across a river!

David's Diary 2/24/73

February 25, 1973 Sun. (David’s Diary)

Snoopy,

What a day. Everything went wrong. In the morning I looked for my wallet. Couldn’t find it. Dad’s putting 170 Cordoba I gave to him before the trip to the USA in the bank. Since Sue and Beck don’t remember what they gave him, they’re getting the same as me. They came out winning. Church wasn’t so hot. Outside I had a little fun. Javier, a little kid was fooling around with Tavi and me. He wanted to play rocketship so I put him on my feet and pushed. Boy did he fly. He hurt himself on the way down. Dad left this morning to Miami. Beck sleeps with Ma today. I went out a half an hour instead of an hour and a half since there was no game. Tomorrow morning I’ll do my citas.

Note: 170 cordobas was about $24 and was money I had saved from my allowance. We were encouraged to save our money and this helped me when I was getting started in Dallas with my first job and was cash strapped. I don’t think I realized how strong my legs were when I launched Javier into the air. Poor kid. Citas means appointments. I believe these were for interviews with people regarding how the earthquake affected them.

Becky, David, and Susan (June 18, 1990)

February 26, 1973 Tue (David’s Diary)

Hey Snoop,

Wow, what a day. At 8:00 we went to the country club. Got home late at about 12:00. I had a half an hour to change, do my science and Spanish report and eat. I did it. At the country club I squirted water on Beck from the greens. We were drinking water. She started to cry and threatened to tell on me. She didn’t. We walked halfway home. School was better than usual. You know I think Martha hates me. Dad didn’t come home today. He’s coming tomorrow. Sue got in trouble at school She went to Mrs. Rothuse’s office with Chue (sp?) and Julio, complaining about Mrs. Sanchez. Nancy Picado told on them. Sue’s on his ____ list. I’ve been working for the last 1/2 hour on algebra. Made a dumb mistake that I couldn’t find. We’re doing cartesians. 

Note: Thank you Becky for not getting me in trouble! It’s interesting to me how much freedom we had to walk around. The country club was about a 12 km walk from home. We were pretty unaware of the growing political tensions and felt pretty safe. I’m not sure what happened with Sue at school. Perhaps her diary will provide clarity. Unlike most in my class, I really enjoyed math, especially algebra. Interesting that I use 1/2 instead of half in describing my search for a dumb mistake!

Note: Sue here. We figured out that David skipped a day, and this is actually February 27. Check it out in next week's post.