I wanted to be a beautician. My sister had sent to school and thought I should be a doctor or something like that. She and I went to school at San Mateo junior college. After about three months I told her: “This just isn’t working for me.”

During this time I was working in evenings at the theater, and I decided that I would go to beauty school in San Francisco. We didn’t have any beauty schools in San Mateo.

I trusted the man who owned the beauty school, so I didn’t keep track of my hours. I had nearly enough to graduate. About this time my mother was very sick; she needed gall bladder surgery. We took her to the hospital down in Los Angeles, and they operated on her.

About this time I met my husband while I was working at the theater.

When it was time to get out of the hospital they told my mother that she would have to go home in an ambulance. Well, my mother was very frugal and would hear nothing of this. She said that my brother could drive her home.

When she arrived at home, everyone was happy to see her. Mother was very musical and could play any string instrument, and was always singing songs.

My sister Thelma was with my mother during this whole time. Thelma said that she heard mother calling to her continuously. Mother fell down the stairs into the living room.

By the time Thelma got to my mother she heard my mother say: “god have mercy on my soul.”

At that moment, she died.

So back to the beauty school for a moment. I didn’t have enough hours or I didn’t have a good record of my hours. I trusted the manager of the beauty school. He told me that I would have to repeat some classes. He told me I had to repeat Nine months worth of classes but I refused. I told him I would take only three months of classes: manicuring and permanent waving!