Autobiography - The Galindo Group

Ram Galindo THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN Page 178
that our family values would find a reinforcing environment in a smaller, more
controllable atmosphere. By and large we were right. When they transferred to the
Bryan public school system for high school, they did so without any academic handicap
and achieved positions of leadership in the much larger school almost immediately.
As I said before, Cid was the top student in his graduating class and Lis was heavily
involved in the school’s leadership. Kim traveled to Cochabamba and to Copenhagen
and entered the school systems in those cities without any handicap either. The most
difficult period of a young person’s development is the teenage years. My blessing star
continued shinning upon my children and me during those periods. I never had anything
but feelings of pride and satisfaction from all three of them, at school and outside
school. None of them ever got into any trouble or departed from the standards of
conduct that we learned at home. Much the opposite, they were often cited for their
distinguished service and accomplishments. Lis was chosen to speak for her class at its
graduation ceremony. In a large high school environment, as in the world outside, they
had to be very careful about choosing close friends. I am convinced that, just as
important as any teaching they learned at home, the selection of good close friends was
key to their success. My niece Diana Galindo, daughter of my brother Chuso whose
house had been bombed for the second time in Bolivia, came to live with me to do her
senior year at Bryan High School. She also became involved in the school’s leadership.
Her home values and ability to choose good company were keys to her success as well.
Her younger sister Veronica Galindo also came to live with me to finish her high school
education in a private school in Bryan.
On October 5, 1978, my birthday, my life took a shattering blow. Kirsten announced that
she wanted to leave the family and me. She indicated that she just wanted to be on her
own, but the following day she moved in with her new boyfriend. This was probably my
comeuppance for all the negatives in my life, and the work of the social laws that appear
to exist as counterpart to physical laws that I could never enunciate. But whatever the
reason, it was a devastating blow. This was a major event in my life. Unfortunately it is
very common in this day and age. There are always at least two sides to every story
and my intention here is to present neither, save to give a few glimpses of what
resulted. At the time I thought the world had ended and I had no longer a reason to live.
I even lost thirty pounds in a month and half, though I didn’t have that much to lose.
According to my own children, I turned into a walking skeleton. It took me three years to
finish the divorce and to recuperate physically.
Many years later I was glad it happened and now I can’t see how I would be as happy
as I am today had it not happened. It was a sickening pill to swallow but the long-term
results for me were salutary. However, I believe that the scars it left on my children were
very deep and they have to consciously work at mitigating them. They were hurt the
most, for their damage was not just short term but medium term also. Neither Cid nor
Kim is yet married and Kim is not interested in having children. My only hope is that,
having experienced the effects of parents divorcing, and assuming that they get married
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